QUETTA: Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind on Saturday offered the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) to march till Quetta’s Shahwani Stadium on Sariab Road and warned the party of action if the city’s Red Zone is breached.
The BNP-M had announced a “long march” from Wadh to Quetta last Friday to protest against the arrests of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders and activists, including Dr Mahrang Baloch and Sammi Deen Baloch, as well as the police crackdown on their sit-in in Quetta. Sammi was released on Tuesday.
The BNP-M sit-in has entered its ninth day. On Thursday in Mastung, party Chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal announced three demands during its protest against the recent arrests of rights activists. Mengal stated the demands: “Either release all prisoners of the BYC, including women, or then let us march on to Quetta, where we can hold a peaceful sit-in there. Or then arrest us.
Rind, while addressing a press conference in Quetta, said: “The provincial government held a dialogue and proposed that BNP-M will be allowed till Shahwani Stadium [on] Sariab Road, but they did not agree and wanted to hold the demonstration in the Red Zone. However, the government will not accept that.” He added that peaceful protest is a right, but the specifics of where and for how long the protest will be held are for the district administration to determine. “They have announced to bring the march to Quetta, and they should know that Section 144 has already been declared, and if it will be violated, then the law will take its course,” Rind continued.
While answering a question regarding how the government would enforce its decision, he responded: “No permission will be given to hold the Red Zone and government functionaries hostage.” He also claimed that the platform of a registered political party was used for anti-state speeches in reference to the BNP-M, adding that appropriate legal action has been initiated.
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