Gwadar movement echoes in Pakistan Senate

Lawmakers denounced the rights violations in Balochistan.

For the past year, the port city has been gripped by protests led by Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman, chief of the Haq Do Tehreek, for being denied basic facilities, from healthcare to electricity to clean drinking water, reports The Express Tribune.

During the session presided over by Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Mushtaq Ahmed condemned the violation of basic human rights, lamenting that over 18 cases were lodged against the movement's leader whose charter has gained widespread popularity among the masses.

Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahadat Awan on Monday said the responsibility of resolving the Gwadar issues was primarily the provincial government's responsibility after the 18th Amendment of the Constitution.

The minister made these remarks while winding up the discussion on the motion presented by Senator Kamran Murtaza and Mushtaq Ahmed on the recent situation of protests in Gwadar City on alleged illegal trawling in the sea, a high number of security checkpoints operating in and around the city and also trade on Pak-Iran Border purportedly affecting the residents of Gwadar.

Awan said the local issues, other than security or law and order, were related to the provincial government.

While explaining the context in which the protests are taking place, he insisted the demands of small fishermen in Gwadar were fair.

"On November 21, 2021, the former prime minister created a special committee to contain trawling. However, on December 26, 2022, the Balochistan government requested the interior ministry to control the law and order situation that was aggravated after the death of a police constable," the minister of state told the newspaper.