Balochistan: Amid protests in Gwadar and Quetta, the Balochistan government has passed an ordinance imposing a ban on staging sit-ins and taking outmarches.
According to a report by The Friday Times, the Ordinance, issued by Balochistan Governor Syed Zahoor Agha, has been enforced in the name of ‘ensuring the free movement of people without any hurdles and hindrance’ and the violators will be given a jail sentence of three to six months along with an Rs10,000 penalty.
This comes in the wake of protests in Gwadar over the lack of safe drinking water and protests in Balochistan University over missing two students from their hostel premises.
On Thursday, Gwadar Ko Huqooq Do Tehreek (Give Rights to Gwadar Movement) had agreed to postpone their planned sit-in for three days after talks with a team of government officials, The Friday Times reported.
The residents of Gwada, Zamran, Buleda, Ormara, Pasni, and Turbat had been protesting for over a week over demands included transferring the powers of running the Pak-Iran border from the Frontier Corps (FC) to the district administration.
The students of Balochistan University have been protesting over recovering of its two students, Faseeh Baloch and Sohail Baloch. The protests began on November 7 and then again on November 9. They had locked the university’s gates and announced that no one will be taking the exams.
According to The Friday Times, the students once again launched protests on November 18 after the government failed to fulfil its promise of recovering the students.
On November 26, the protest was suspended for 15 days after another assurance by the government.
