Victims protest in Gwadar against Pakistan Coast Guard

Following continuous harassment and the confiscation of local automobiles in Gwadar, Balochistan, the victims protested against the Pakistan Coast Guard at the Kaldan Cross, which is close to the Gubad border, and stopped the Makran Coastal Highway.

According to the Balochistan Post, the demonstrators bemoaned how the Coast Guards’ unlawful actions had interfered with commerce and day-to-day life in the area.

They further said that the government had falsely promised to make concessions to them and to stop these unlawful operations. However, the administration is presenting a misleading picture of the situation in the area being under control.

Protests broke out in the region when the Pakistan Coast Guard opened fire on a Baloch fuel van. “A tragic incident occurred yesterday in Panwan Jewani, District Gwadar, where the paramilitary force Coast Guard opened fire directly on a vehicle carrying fuel,” the Baloch Yakjehti Committee stated after being notified of the incident. The car was reduced to ashes, but thankfully the driver lived.

“It is a well-known reality that the people of Balochistan lack economic incentives and a basic economic structure,” the BYC said, denouncing the situation. The border commerce, which has always been a fundamental aspect of Baloch culture, is what they rely on most. With most people living below the poverty line, the area is enmeshed in poverty.

Under such terrible conditions, when many people cannot afford even two meals a day, persecution and governmental crimes only make their misery worse. Border inhabitants are subjected to abuse and humiliation on a daily basis, which violates their basic rights to sustainability and income.

The demonstrators call for an immediate end to the Coast Guard’s harassment and confiscation of local cars, according to the Balochistan Post. In order to preserve their fundamental economic system, they also called for the local commerce to be restored.