Pakistan Reader# 414, 22 November 2022
Bhoomika Sesharaj
On 20 November, tens and thousands of protestors which included women and children obstructed an expressway that leads to the Gwadar port. They said that the government had failed to meet a 20 November deadline for their demands. Fishermen, students and labourers formed the majority of the protestors who were led by Gwadar Haq Do Tehreek’s chief Maulana Hidayatur Rahman. The participants of the rally “marched” towards the Gwadar port and raised slogans against the government. The movement demands the stoppage of illegal fishing by trawlers in the province’s boundaries, asking for maximum concessions in border trade with Iran, and ending narcotics in the area.
Series of protests
The longstanding series of sit-ins and protests began on 27 October and comes after similar rallies the port city experienced last year, where the protests drew out for a month and became some of the largest rallying events the city ever witnessed. The protests in the previous year were successful, leading to negotiations with the government at the site of the sit-in. The government then called their demands “legitimate” and said that the people of Gwadar would be provided with basic facilities and development projects. Rahman was “hopeful” that the agreement would be implemented correctly, but presently, the protest enters its 25th day, and protestors are accusing the governments of retracting their promises to cater to their demands. Rahman strongly criticised the federal and provincial governments for not implementing the agreement reached with the movement’s leaders in the previous year, and said: “the struggle of the Haq Do movement will continue until the problems are served.” (Behram Baloch, “Protesters block highway leading to Gwadar port,” Dawn, 21 November 2022)
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