Islamabad: Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission has condemned the arrest of veteran Baloch politician and president of Baloch Muttahida Mahaz (BMM) Mir Yousuf Masti Khan.
The 80-year-old was arrested on Thursday on charges of making a “provocative and anti-state” speech at a protest in Gwadar.
The HRCP, in a statement issued on Thursday, said “Khan has done nothing more than demanding the state to give Gwadar residents civil, political and economic rights, to which they are entitled to. To charge Khan under archaic and repressive colonial laws is undemocratic.”
Gwadar residents have been staging a sit-in protest in support of their demands under the banner of the ‘Gwadar ko Haq do’ movement for the past 23 days. The protest was launched by Balochistan General Secretary of Jamaat-i-Islami Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman.
As per a report in Dawn, police registered cases against the veteran politician under Sections 121, 123-A, 124-A, 153, 109 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Khan was arrested from a hotel where he was staying and later produced before a sessions court. The court remanded him to police custody for one day. Khan had reached Gwadar to express solidarity with the protestors.
