Pakistan: Traders and locals sit on dharna in Kech, Balochistan; Businesses remain closed

According to reports, traders and residents of the area have now voluntarily closed their shops and businesses, and have also decided to give up their daily earnings to show support to the grieving families.

Baloch Yakjehti Committee, an organisation advocating for the rights of the Baloch people, said on social media platform X: “The sit-in has reached a stalemate with a complete shutdown in Kech on the 15th day of the protest. In a powerful show of solidarity, traders and residents of Kech have voluntarily shut their businesses and stand with the elderly, men, women and children participating in the protest. Unity and resistance are the only things that can guarantee our survival against such a barbaric state and its institutions.”

Participate in protests. Unity and resistance are the only things that can guarantee our survival against such a barbaric state and its institutions. #EndEnforcedDisappearances #StopBalochGenoicde #15thDayOfSitInKech

– Baloch Yakjahati Samiti – Late (@BYCKech) July 1, 2024

For many years the Baloch people have been actively protesting, driven by grievances such as autonomy, human rights, socio-economic inequality and political injustice. The abduction of Baloch students is a disturbing issue that has attracted attention in Balochistan and around the world.

The Pakistani government views Baloch students, particularly activists advocating for Baloch rights, as a threat to national security. This perception has reportedly led to harassment, enforced disappearances, and repression of Baloch students and activists.

Human rights organisations and activists have extensively documented cases in which Baloch activists were reportedly abducted, disappeared, and later found dead in remote areas under mysterious circumstances, and state authorities or allied groups have been accused of extrajudicial killings.

Pakistan denies allegations of extrajudicial killings, including of Baloch individuals.

The government argues that casualties during security operations are justified actions against insurgents and terrorists, and not deliberate killings. Pakistani officials claim that allegations of extrajudicial killings are often politically motivated or based on misinformation.

Despite Pakistan’s stance, the international community has differing views supported by documentary evidence.

Pakistan's actions have raised serious international human rights concerns, and the country has been accused of systematic discrimination and suppression of the views and rights of the Baloch people.

The situation underscores the ongoing tensions and complexities in ethnic relations and civil liberties in Pakistan.