Islamabad police on Sunday said the bail of all detained Baloch protesters — who were taken into custody during a demonstration demanding an end to enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings — had been approved and they were being released.

The development comes a day after the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, organiser of the Baloch long march in Islamabad, gave the authorities a three-day ultimatum to quash cases registered against students and activists and release all protesters.

The long march — which started in Turbat on December 6 after the alleged “extra-judicial killing” of a Baloch youth by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials — had reached the federal capital on Wednesday.

The Islamabad police had subsequently used brutal force to disperse and detain the demonstrators with over 200 taken into custody from different areas of the federal capital. The action was strongly condemned by human rights organisations, politicians, the Islamabad High Court (IHC), President Dr Arif Alvi and caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and analysts.

On Thursday evening, the government said 90 per cent of the Baloch men and women taken into custody were released. A day earlier, a judicial magistrate granted bail to 162 participants. However, a protester had told Dawn that only half of the protesters had been granted bail. The BYC claimed that though the bail was granted, their release was cancelled.

In a statement issued today, Islamabad police said the protesters had demanded the release of their detained companions during a meeting with a cabinet committee formed by the prime minister.

“Keeping in view the legal requirements, the bail of the arrested protesters has been approved. The detained protesters are being released,” it said.

Relatives of the detained protesters should contact the police for information so that legal assistance can be provided to them, the police added.

In a later post, the police said a special help centre had been established to facilitate the release of the detained persons. It said the centre would be functional for two days and would be supervised by the DIG operations and SSP operations..

Earlier in the day, the caretaker government had said it was holding negotiations with the protesters. Interior Secretary Aftab Akbar Durrani had emphasised that staging peaceful protests was every Pakistani’s right.

“We have ensured, on the orders of the prime minister, that no protesters are harmed, tortured or harassed in any way, “ he had noted in a statement. At the same time, the interior secretary had also asserted that no one would be allowed to take the law into their own hands.

“The implementation of the court order will be ensured,” he had added, referring to the IHC’s directives, in which it had advised the capital police chief to concentrate on controlling street crimes rather than flexing their muscles against protesters.

Over 100 Baloch students ‘missing’

Meanwhile, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), the BYC said its movement had entered the 31st day and continued in the form of a sit-in outside the National Press Club (NPC).

“Nearly 250 of our students and activists are still in the custody of Islamabad police but our courage and hopes are high and this struggle shall continue,” it added.

Mahrang Baloch, one of the long march organisers, said that the status of more than 100 Baloch students was “missing” and they had not been produced before any court.

“If the students are not released and first information reports (FIRs) against peaceful protestors are not withdrawn, then the long march will be compelled to take harsh steps and the state will be responsible for this,” she wrote on X.

Balochistan minister says ‘missing persons are BLA terrorists’

Addressing a press conference in Quetta, Balochistan caretaker Information Minister Jan Achakzai said that hundreds of thousands of non-Baloch had been expelled from the province. “Thousands were killed. Every day, from the poor to the highly educated, have been killed in Balochistan,” he said.

He asked why no one was talking about this, when people had been killed just on the basis of their identity. He said that the non-Baloch were being killed and asked why there was silence in this regard.

“Missing persons are Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists — they are in the mountains or they are in being taught in India’s training camps,” he said. Achakzai further said that militants were putting women on the forefront to put pressure on the state.

He said that the militant groups were at war with the state, one they would never win.

“Further, saying that this is a long march by the committee — there is no Baloch committee or Baloch Yakjehti Council,” he said, adding that the people of the province were as patriotic as those in other provinces.

“Therefore, [they] cannot represent the Baloch people. A handful of people left from Turbat under an agenda, headed to Islamabad on a long march and tried to manipulate the people through the media,” he said.

He said that the provincial government had listened to the protesters and launched an inquiry against the “people they wanted”. “Apart from this, we also suspended people,” he said.

“Now, their demands are beyond understanding. Disarming the CTD is equivalent to disarming the state of Pakistan. No state can disarm any of its institutions. If there are 150 incidents of terrorism in Turbat and 66 people are martyred, then no institution can think of accepting the demands of a handful of people for disarming the state,” he said.

The minister said the protesters first went to Quetta and then “Baloch dominated areas” where they had planted people.

“It does not make sense to go to Kohlu. Then they went to Dera Ismail Khan where people from the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) joined them […] We know their agenda, they will not be successful,” he said.

Achakzai also claimed that women were not baton-charged by Islamabad police. He said that there were people present in the federal capital with masked faces and Islamabad police were compelled to use water cannons.

“The narrative that women were baton-charged is wrong. No woman was targeted. This is social media propaganda,” he said.

He further said that the Baloch protesters were “facilitating militants, their political voice and are trying to give them a platform which is unacceptable”.

“Law and order is our responsibility. No one will be allowed to cripple Balochistan’s main highways,” he said.

Rabbani condemns police’s ‘high-handedness’

Separately, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani issued a statement in which he condemned the “high-handed and ruthless manner in which the Islamabad police has dealt with the long marchers from Balochistan”.

“The treatment meted out to women was not in accordance with Pakistani tradition and culture. There was no justification in arresting Balochi students studying in Islamabad,” he said.

“The government must realise that these are not militants or terrorists but citizens who are protesting to be treated in accordance with the law and the Constitution,” he said.

He further said that the people of Balochistan continued to be denied their economic and political rights, adding that these needed to be guaranteed immediately in order to bring stability to the province.

“Such an attitude [by] the state will further sharpen the internal political fault lines and sow the seeds of distrust in the younger generation,” he said. Rabbani said that the Senate should invite the state and all stakeholders for a dialogue to resolve these issues “within the constitutional framework”.

Charter of demands

A statement issued by the BYC on X social media yesterday said over 100 Baloch students were “missing” after the crackdown on the march by the police on Wed­nesday night.

“Nearly 350 of our students and families were arrested […] the females and 33 students were granted bail the next day, while more than 250 of our students are still in jail […] more than 100 still have not been presented before court,” it claimed.

The protesters warned the authorities of “harsh steps” if their demands were not met and said the state and the capital administration would be responsible in that case.

They said their movement would continue till the release of missing students and acceptance of the demands of their long march. They also iss­ued a charter of demands, see­king a fact-finding mission hea­ded by a UN Working Group for a detailed investigation into rights violations in Balochistan.

“CTD Balochistan shall accept that it has killed Balach Mola Baksh in a fake encounter,” the second demand read. It called for the recovery of all missing Baloch persons, especially of those whose families were present in the sit-in outside the National Press Club.

The charter also asked the state to abolish the CTD and “death squads” in the province. It demanded a press conference from the interior ministry to “confess” the alleged killing of forcibly disappeared in “fake encounters”.

Additional input from Nadir Guramani