QUETTA: Balochistan caretaker Information Minister Jan Achakzai said that hundreds of thousands of non-Baloch had been expelled from the province.
“Thousands were killed. Every day, from the poor to the highly educated, have been killed in Balochistan,” he said while addressing a press conference in Quetta.
He asked why no one was talking about this, when people had been killed just on the basis of their identity. He said that the non-Baloch were being killed and asked why there was silence in this regard.
“Missing persons are Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists — they are in the mountains or they are in being taught in India’s training camps,” he said. Achakzai further said that militants were putting women on the forefront to put pressure on the state.
He said that the militant groups were at war with the state, one they would never win.
“Further, saying that this is a long march by the committee — there is no Baloch committee or Baloch Yakjehti Council,” he said, adding that the people of the province were as patriotic as those in other provinces.
“Therefore, [they] cannot represent the Baloch people. A handful of people left from Turbat under an agenda, headed to Islamabad on a long march and tried to manipulate the people through the media,” he said.
He said that the provincial government had listened to the protesters and launched an inquiry against the “people they wanted”. “Apart from this, we also suspended people,” he said.
“Now, their demands are beyond understanding. Disarming the CTD is equivalent to disarming the state of Pakistan. No state can disarm any of its institutions. If there are 150 incidents of terrorism in Turbat and 66 people are martyred, then no institution can think of accepting the demands of a handful of people for disarming the state,” he said.
The minister said the protesters first went to Quetta and then “Baloch dominated areas” where they had planted people.
“It does not make sense to go to Kohlu. Then they went to Dera Ismail Khan where people from the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) joined them […] We know their agenda, they will not be successful,” he said.
Achakzai also claimed that women were not baton-charged by Islamabad police. He said that there were people present in the federal capital with masked faces and Islamabad police were compelled to use water cannons.
“The narrative that women were baton-charged is wrong. No woman was targeted. This is social media propaganda,” he said.
He further said that the Baloch protesters were “facilitating militants, their political voice and are trying to give them a platform which is unacceptable”.
“Law and order is our responsibility. No one will be allowed to cripple Balochistan’s main highways,” he said.
