GWADAR: A large number of women from Gwadar district participated in a rally on Monday demanding basic rights and the provision of amenities to their cities.
The rally, part of the ‘Gwadar Ko Huqooq Do Tehreek ‘ (Movement for Gwadar’s rights), was set out from the Al Johar Public School and concluded at Marine Drive in Gwadar city.
The participants stated that the breadwinners of their homes were without jobs which had compelled them to step out into the streets. They called for an end to illegal fishing by trawlers and for lifting restrictions on trade with Iran.
Jamaat-i-Islami Balochistan secretary general Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch led the movement. Addressing the participants, he stated that the rally was a testament that every citizen of Gwadar had been mobilised to seek their basic rights.
Lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir said thousands of women marched on the streets of Gwadar, adding that a rally of youth and children had also taken place earlier. “All have the same demand: to provide the entire Makran area with basic amenities like potable and clean water,” he said.
Balochistan Minister for Planning and Development Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, who is heading the government team for talks with the protesters, said that the demands have been implemented to a great extent.
Thousands of people from Gwadar, Turbat, Pishkan, Zamran, Buleda, Ormara and Pasni have been staging a protest for the past several days demanding the removal of additional checkposts at Pushkan, Sarbandan and Gwadar City, complete removal of fishing trawlers, and the reopening of the Pakistan-Iran border.
Last week, Excise, Taxation and Anti-Narcotics Department had ordered the closure of all wine stores in Gwadar district with immediate effect in view of the law and order situation. Buledi said the decision was taken after negotiations with JI’s Baloch.
گوادر میں آج نئی تاریخ رقم ہوئی ہے۔ عفت ماب بہادر خواتین، ہماری ماؤں بہنوں بیٹیوں نے اپنا فیصلہ آج سنا دیا ہے۔ حق دو تحریک اب گوادر کے ہر گھر کی آواز ہے۔ اس سے پہلے مردوں اور بچوں نے بھی فقیدالمثال جلوس نکالے تھے مگر ہماری بہنیں آج بازی لے گئیں۔ گوادر کو اب حق دینا پڑے گا۔ pic.twitter.com/dJs20PWdr5
— Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman Baloch (@MHidayatRehman) November 29, 2021
