Police has arrested renowned campaigner and student leader Mahrang Baloch and several others in Quetta, Balochistan.
According to details, Mahrang Baloch, a medical student and a campaigner, was arrested on Wednesday in capital city of Quetta. Several others including Jeehand Baloch of Baloch Student Organisation have also been arrested.
In a tweet after the arrest Mahrang Baloch said that they were protesting against decision of online classes. She alleged that the “barbaric state doesn’t change its behavior towards oppressed nations.”
I am arrested along with other Peaceful students .we were protesting against online classes.police has beaten and arrested male and female students.This barbaric state doesn’t changed its behaviour towards oppressed nations .#SayNoToOnlineClasses pic.twitter.com/2VLfcQTG2E
— Mahrang Baloch (@MahrangBaloch5) June 24, 2020
Students in Balochistan have been protesting since last few weeks due to non-availability of internet facilities and the decision of Higher Education Commission to conduct online classes.
The protest in Quetta was called by Baloch Students Alliance, who claimed that the sole of the peaceful protest was to grab the attention of concerned authorities towards students issues.
Earlier, the protestors had said: “The HEC’s decision for beginning online classes is one sided and prejudiced, which completely ignores the ground realities. The HEC’s decision makes it clear that the students of Balochistan are not the part of this education system. Which is an attempt to keep away the Baloch students from education.”
It is pertinent to mention that the authorities have suspended access to the internet in various regions of Balochistan for years citing security reasons.
The nationalist organisations claim that the internet inaccessibility is an attempt of the Pakistani state to thwart social media activism and to conceal the perpetrated human rights abuses in Balochistan.
