'Gwadar ko haq do': Pakistani Women, Children Join Protest Against China's CPEC Project & Imran Khan Govt
The ongoing protest in Pakistan's Gwadar has escalated with hundreds of women and children hitting the roads to demonstrate against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the port city after a ban was imposed on the border trade. The latest visuals from the Gwadar port city show that women and children in large numbers are joining the protest, targeting the Imran Khan-led Pakistan government for snatching the basic rights of the people. The protest march was taken out from the Al-Johar Public School to Marine Drive.
The agitation surfaced amid the construction of unnecessary checkpoints and water shortages in the district. Also, the locals have been complaining of electricity shortages and illegal fishing in the area causing a threat to their livelihood. The women demonstrators, including female students, political workers, working women, and housewives among others reached the port city from Turbat, Jewani, Ormara, Pesni, and other areas. Raising slogans against China and the Pakistani government, women were also seen carrying placards and banners saying "Gwadar ko haq do" (Give rights to Gwadar). The demonstrators condemned the Pakistani Prime Minister-led government for allowing the $60 billion worth of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
It is to mention that China's flagship project CPEC has remained the centre of protest in Pakistan for over several days. It is for the first time in history where Pakistani women in such huge numbers are participating in a protest. While citizens are continuously demanding scrapping of the unnecessary setting up of checkpoints and looking into the availability of drinking water and electricity, the Pakistani Prime Minister seems to have turned a deaf ear, further triggering intensification of the agitations.
CPEC controversy
The multi-billion-dollar project by China was announced in 2015 in collaboration with the Pakistani government. The CPEC has remained the centre of protest in Pakistan due to China's increasing involvement in Balochistan for squeezing out all the wealth from the region. The CPEC project, which would link Pakistan's southern Gwadar port in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea to China's western Xinjiang region, includes several plans to create roads, rail, and oil pipeline links for improving connectivity with China and the Middle East.
(With ANI inputs)
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