Shahid Rind Says Govt Had Reached Three Agreements With Dr Mahrang Baloch, BYC Over Protest Venues

QUETTA:Chief Minister’s Special Assistant Shahid Rind has said that the provincial government had reached three agreements with Dr Mahrang Baloch and the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), under which the right to protest was acknowledged but the government would decide where protests could be held.

Speaking in a podcast, Rind said the agreements were signed by the concerned parties. He added that another round of engagement with Dr Mahrang took place following her arrest, with lawyers also making efforts to mediate between the government and Dr Mahrang.

According to Rind, some steps were expected to be taken by Dr Mahrang, but those actions were not carried out. “If she had taken those steps, the situation today might have been different,” he said.

The chief minister’s aide also questioned the decision to hold the Rajai Machi (Baloch National Gathering) in Gwadar when its stated agenda concerned missing persons.

He questioned whether the deputy commissioner of Gwadar or the chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority could have resolved the issue of missing persons.

Rind said the gathering was taken to Gwadar at a time when Pakistan was engaged in negotiations with China over the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He questioned why an issue that, according to him, was supposed to be addressed in Quetta was taken to Gwadar during such a sensitive period of Pakistan-China discussions.

The remarks come amid continued political and public debate over protests by the BYC and the handling of missing persons-related demands in Balochistan.