ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Gwadar Ko Huqooq Do Tehreek (Give Rights to Gwadar Movement) won a landslide victory in Gwadar and other ethnic Baloch-populated areas of Pakistan’s southern Balochistan province’s local government elections on May 29, effectively silencing the guns of separatists who have been hiding in the rough mountainous terrain and sporadically attacking state institutions and interests.
Following a 31-day protest sit-in that brought thousands of people, primarily women, the movement gained traction after forcing the Balochistan government to commit to protecting their rights and meeting all of their legitimate demands in December last year.
Though the organic movement’s victory startled many political pundits, it was even more stunning for ethnic Baloch separatists and those who advocated using arms to obtain their rights rather than political means.
In October last year, the movement for civic rights began in Gwadar, the artery of the flagship multibillion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, to demand basic rights from the provincial government, including access to electricity, portable water, and education, as well as the removal of unnecessary security checkpoints and, most importantly, stern action against illegal trawlers, who had ruined the livelihood of local fishermen in the coastal city by illegally taking tons of fishes from the deep sea.
The demonstration was ignored or downplayed by the local media, while neighboring Indian media amplified the concerns in Balochistan, the country’s largest territorial province and richest in mineral deposits, by falsely portraying the movement’s protest in Gwadar. It spread and attempted to incite hatred against Pakistani state and China, which has been involved in the development of the Gwadar Port, the backbone of the CPEC and the future economic engine of a cash-strapped South Asian nation facing economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and then the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.
All such Indian narratives, however, were ultimately rejected by the local people through voting in local government elections.
The man behind the movement, Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman, gained attention and provided the local Baloch people with a much-needed new political platform to obtain and protect their rights through democratic means, while discouraging a small percentage of the society from resorting to militancy to achieve them. Rehman emphasized the importance of using legal means to protect people’s democratic rights.
Though there was fear of violence given the negative Indian media propaganda and some digital platforms operating from western countries, the 60 percent turnout in local government elections, the highest in 34 years, and the overall smooth voting process silenced anti-state elements who have been fanning hatred and peddling so-called hardcore nationalism to snatch Baloch people’s rights with guns for over a decade.
This democratic process must be credited to the brave people of Balochistan, particularly the women, whose number of votes cast was significant in the entire process.
A suicide attack in front of the Confucius Institute in Karachi’s southern seaport city on April 26 carried out by Shari Baloch, a 31-year-old mother of two, influenced by separatists’ agenda, shocked many, who propagated the incident as an indication of the severity of the situation in the province.
However, Rehman’s movement has had a greater impact than the suicide bombing, defeating nationalist parties as well as the religious and ruling coalition in Gwadar and other parts of the province where ethnic Baloch are the majority.
After winning the election with 101 seats out of 148, Rehman was shown by local media hugging people and promising to work for the welfare of the Gwadar and Makran coastal areas using all peaceful means.
“We are not averse to investment in Gwadar and other parts of Balochistan,” Rehman recently told local media.
In an interview with Dawn TV, he criticized the mainstream Pakistani media for downplaying civil rights protests.
“India exploited the situation, which presented a negative picture of Pakistan,” he stated.
“We want our rights to be respected, and the movement has presented its demands to the provincial government,” he said, adding that Balochistan has legitimate concerns because it lags behind other provinces in development.
Since the beginning of the movement in Gwadar, the Indian media has highlighted on the issue, attributing it to the presence of Chinese companies involved in the construction of a dry port that will be operational in the coming years.
He said the protest was not directed at China but at the government’s incompetence and apathy.
– Balochistan and India media
There is no denying that global anti-China and anti-CPEC forces active in the region are exploiting the restive nature of Balochistan and looking for loopholes to fuel the insurgency by exploiting the Baloch people, who have several legitimate demands from the federal and provincial governments that have yet to be met.
When the movement began protesting for their rights in Gwadar, the Indian mainstream media started propagating against its archrival Pakistan, China, and the CPEC. All of the main English news channels not only broadcasted them, but some even aired special programs twisting facts and accusing Islamabad and Beijing of exploiting the province’s resources and failing to protect locals’ legitimate rights.
The sole purpose was just to incite the people against the state institutions and the CPEC, which India has been negatively propagating since its inception.
Not only the electronic media, but also digital media and newspapers, emphasized the movement’s demands, negatively connecting them to CPEC and compelling Beijing to issue a response. In response to a question during a press briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian rejected “fake news” aimed at tarnishing ongoing work on the CPEC.
“The report by certain media on anti-China protests in the Gwadar region is completely groundless. It has been verified that there are no Chinese trawlers harboring in the Gwadar Port or fishing in relevant waters,” he said.
“I would like to reiterate that the Gwadar Port, a flagship project under CPEC, always focuses on development and is livelihood-oriented. The Chinese side upholds the principle of mutual respect and agreement through consultation in advancing relevant cooperation,” he added.
However, the Indian media has been conspicuously silent since the movement’s electoral victory.
