Threats to Mama Qadeer Baloch & long march of Voice of Missing Baloch condemned
- February 19, 2014, 7:13 pm
- National News
- 251 Views
ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (Online): Civil Society across Pakistan, Wednesday, condemned threats to Voice of Missing Baloch (VoMB) head, Mama Qadeer Baloch, in the strongest terms.
Reportedly Mama Qadeer Baloch and participants of long march of Voice of Missing Baloch from Quetta to Islamabad, now in its last stage, are receiving serious threats.
Mama Qadeer has received a very serious threatening telephone call from an unlisted number, categorically informing him of the decision to prevent the VoMB marchers from entering Rawalpindi/Islamabad; and warning them that they will not be allowed to present their demands to the UN; that preparations have been finalized to ensure that the march is forcibly stopped before it reaches Rawalpindi; and that their safety lies in returning home from Wazirabad now.
We are alarmed to learn that the police contingent near the group has suddenly increased dramatically, and for the first time, a contingent of women police is also present. We know from long experience that women police are deployed when women demonstrators have to be arrested or physically overpowered.
Mama Qadeer has appealed to the civil society and media to convey to the Government that their march is Constitutional, legal, peaceful and non-violent, aiming to highlight the plight of the Enforced/Involuntary Disappeared Persons (aka “Missing†Persons); and that the Parliamentarians and Political Parties should take serious notice of the threats, intimidation and imminent danger facing the unarmed, peaceful marchers for the supremacy of the rule of law.
Civil Society strongly condemns the threats and well-known intimidation tactics from supposedly “mysterious†sources. We warn the Government that if any section of the State takes any action against Mama Qadeer Baloch and his brave band of women, men and children, walking the length and breadth of Pakistan in the freezing winter; or if any harm befalls them, the Government will be held responsible, and the already volatile security and political situation in Balochistan will definitely get worse.
It is vital that the marchers are protected en route to their destination to present their demands for the return of their missing relatives. We salute their determination and courage in their march towards the Federal Capital, which is also the seat of the UN's Resident Mission in Pakistan. We continue to stand in total solidarity with the marchers.
We demand that the Punjab Home Department and the Federal Interior Ministry immediately provide the marchers sufficient and effective escort, security and protection during this last stage of their march, with adequate deployment of the Punjab and ICT Police, respectively.
We call upon the Government to prove its writ by taking serious measures to end the issue of enforced/involuntary disappearances. It is an irreparable blow to the rule of law in Pakistan that the efforts of the Judiciary, Parliament and democratically elected governments have not resulted in the recovery of thousands of missing persons. We condemn the fact that the State agencies and the Government are instead violating the democratic right of peaceful protest by the VoMB marchers.
We call upon the media across Pakistan to expose these tactics and threats as a pre-emptive measure. We demand an immediate end to the State’s threats and intimidation tactics against the VoMB, in view of the Constitutional guarantees of the marchers’ rights and freedoms of expression, free speech, assembly and movement.
