Chinese project at Balochistan port: local protests and global concerns
This is not the first time Gwadar is seeing protests, but this one has now run for 26 days. Despite the severe conservatism of Balochistan, women protesters have come out in large numbers.
Since the second week of November, there have been continuous protests in Gwadar, Balochistan against mega development plans of the port city as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The protesters, rallying under the Gwadar Ko Huqooq Do Tehreek (Give Rights to Gwadar Movement), have sought to draw attention to marginalisation of the local people in the development of the port. They are angry that not only are they being excluded, their present livelihood too has been endangered. They are from Gwadar and nearby areas of coastal Balochistan including Turbat, Pishkan, Zamran, Buleda, Ormara and Pasni.
This is not the first time Gwadar is seeing protests, but this one has now run for 26 days. Despite the severe conservatism of Balochistan, women protesters have come out in large numbers.
Another significant aspect of the protest is that it is led by a Jamat-e-Islami leader of the area, Malauana Hidayat ur Rehman. The JI has traditionally been an ally of Pakistan’s military establishment. The national leader of the JI, Siraj Ul Haq also visited Gwadar in a show of solidarity with the protesters.
The local concerns
Balochistan is among the least developed even though the most resource-rich of Pakistan’s four provinces. The main means of livelihood for people in the region is fishing. Balochistan has the lowest access to drinking water, electricity, and even the gas that is the main resource of the region.
The protesters have made 19 demands, according to Dawn newspaper. One is that more people from Gwadar should be employed by the Chinese company developing the port. On top of this list is that the government should crack down on foreign “trawler mafia” who are stripping the Gwadar Sea of its marine resources.
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