Locals of the Gwadar port city, on Thursday, declared the termination of their month-long sit-in after the chief minister of Balochistan, Mir Abdul QuddusBizenjo visited the site of protest and signed the agreement which acknowledged the willingness of Pakistan government to fulfill “all demands of the protestors”.
While talking to an international news agency, the head of the protest, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman said, “The federal and provincial ministers have assured us to fully meet our demands,” adding that, “We have decided to call off our protest since we are optimistic the government will fulfill its commitments. However, I will personally monitor its progress after a month.”
“Despite immense natural wealth, people in Balochistan are deprived of water, electricity, gas and other facilities,” Mr. Rehman continued. “If the government had not taken serious action on our demands, we would have taken thousands of people with us and marched toward Quetta and Islamabad.”
The Protest background:
The protest erupted around the mid of November under the banner, “Give Gwadar its Rights” and was conducted to rise vice against:
- Illegal trawling
- Growing drugs trade
- Lack of basic facilities like health and education
The Balochistan chief minister while speaking to the marchers stated that the provincial administration had realized the severity of economic distress faced by the citizens of Gawadar because of border restrictions and illegal trawling.
“I want to congratulate the protesters for their prolonged movement,” he said. “Today your legitimate demands have been accepted by the federal and provincial governments.”
Details of the Agreement:
Following are the main points of the agreement signed between the government and the Gawadar protestors:
- The government will form a committee to conduct a survey regarding unnecessary check posts in Gwadar and Makran Division before removing them from the said areas.
- Local fishermen will have the freedom to catch fish between 12 to 30 nautical miles from the shoreline, and they will not be restricted at the time of any VIP movement in the town.
- A joint patrolling team comprising district administration and local fishermen will be constituted to monitor and curb illegal trawling on Gwadar’s seashore
- The government would hand over business activities at the Pakistan-Iran border to the district administration and end trade unions to provide more business opportunities to the area’s residents.
PM Imran Khan took notice of the Protest:
Earlier this week, PM Imran Khan took notice of the Gwadar protest where masses of people took to the streets for many weeks while directing the federal and provincial authorities to take strict action against people involved in illegal trawling.
The premier promised strong action against illegal fishing by trawlers and said the concerned authorities would address the complaints of Gwadar’s local residents.