On the night of December 21, when the Baloch Long March against enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings reached Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad, it was attacked by state forces. Large numbers of students, women and the elderly were arrested and mistreated. The government tried to return the arrested women, who had spearheaded the march, to Quetta, Balochistan’s capital, by force, but they resisted, despite all the violence and threats.
Of the more than three hundred students arrested, so far only 167 have been released. The marchers demonstrated in front of the National Press Club in Islamabad, demanding the release of all those arrested and threatening that if this is not done or still more are “disappeared,” they will be forced to take even more widespread and militant action.
Protests against the violence experienced on the Long March and sit-ins, broke out, turning into “wheel jam and shutter-down” strikes, not just in Balochistan itself but across the country; in Turbat, Panjgur, Gwadar, Khuzdar, Mastung, Dalbandin, Quetta, Kohlu, Dera Bugti, Sibi, Rukni, Barkhan, Awaran Hub, Karachi, Belah, Taunsa, DG Khan, Lahore, Islamabad, Bahawalpur and Multan where there are significant Baloch communities.
However, state violence has not broken the protests, rather it has increased the spirit and courage of the people’s struggle. The movement is overcoming its fear of repression and creating a new political reality that is shaking the existing political order. In this situation, the court ordered the release of some arrested people, and the government has even started negotiations, hoping the convening of the Jirga (assembly of leaders) can be used to control the growing political struggle.
This phase of the struggle began with the brutal killing of Balach Baloch, who was under the custody of CTD (Counter Terrorism Department) in Turbat. More generally, the movement is the result of many similar cases that have taken place in recent years, leading to protests organised by Baloch students and women in different cities. Activists formed solidarity committees, again showing that fear of the state’s violence, including severe violence, arrests, forced disappearances and the dumping of mutilated bodies, is being overcome.
An investigation has been launched into those accused of killing Balach Baloch. Thus, apparently, one of the immediate demands of the Long March has been accepted, but the main demand, the complete ending of the state policy of enforced disappearances and the return the disappeared, remains. This is a legitimate demand raised by the Baloch Solidarity Committee led by Mahrang Baloch and other female activists.
The state’s violent response to the Long March sums up its policy towards the Baloch nation. The whole state structure of Pakistan is based on internal colonialism, which denies the Baloch nation its elementary democratic rights. Regarding the march, the state made a serious miscalculation in thinking that violence, arrests and restrictions would prevent its development into such a big movement.
The Long March is receiving support on a large scale, including from PTM (Pashtun Tahafuz Movement) and other nations’ organisations. The PTM, the Baloch Solidarity Committee and the parties and organisations of the Left have the duty not only to support the Baloch struggle, but to form a united front to take this struggle into the country’s entire working class. Only the working class has the power to spread this struggle and force the state to halt its genocidal actions and concede full democratic rights to the Baloch nation and other oppressed peoples.