Security personnel in Balochistan reportedly killed a border driver in the Naukandi area of Chaghi district on Thursday while he was on his way as routine.
Locals say that Hamdullah Baloch, a driver, was shot dead by the security forces when he was on his way home. The people of Dalbandin gathered outside the Frontier Corps headquarters in the city against the security officer(s) involved in the incident in which the forces opened fire on the protesters. The firing resulted in the death of a protester leaving eight others injured, a local journalist from Dalbandin said.
In reaction, the people of the city blocked the main highway and the railway track demanding the arrest of the concerned security officers who had opened firing on them. They say that Hamdullah was a driver who used to earn a living by going to the border. “Killing such innocent drivers was never acceptable,” they said. “It is about the basic and fundamental rights; it is about our life.”
On the other hand, the security personnel, defending their action, say that they indicated the driver to stop but he did put the brakes. “We were compelled to open firing as he acted in a suspicious manner and did not stop,” said the FC officials.
The locals, however, contest that claim, saying things were not as they [FC officials] pronounce them to be. They blamed the forces for opening firing against the public thereafter as well which, they say, proves their guilt.
They say that such behaviour of the security personnel spreads fear among the masses. “Now, will they even stop us from earning our daily wages?” questioned the crowd. The incident faced severe criticism from the Baloch masses on social media as they decried the act of the security forces and asked to arrest the officers involved.
Meanwhile, the Baloch Yekjehti Committee (BYC), while decrying the act of the forces, said that the security forces had been involved in several human rights violation which was intensifying on a daily basis.
In a statement, a spokesperson of the committee said that giving the forces extra powers in Balochistan was proving disastrous for the local population who has to bear more panic and violations in the region. “Sometimes they disrespect the drivers by making them wait for hours and sometimes they are shot dead extra-judicially in the border regions,” said the spokesperson, adding that 200 other drivers were left in hot weather which resulted in the death of three labourers. “Their details are yet to come out. Some were reportedly beaten and kept in long rows of cars. Making matters worse, their materials like oil and other things were also snatched on several occasions.”
The spokesperson said that after taking into account all these abuses of power in Balochistan, BYC would organise a demonstration on Sunday against the injustices of the security forces.
