Over 300 people from Loralai, including women and children, are protesting in Islamabad against the Frontier Corps’ (FC) encroachment and occupation of their homes. The FC has forcefully ousted these people from their homes on the pretext that the homes in which these people live were once a part of the British authorities’ territory.
A protester, while talking to Hamid Mir’s programme on Geo TV, lamented the fact that despite being a part of the free country, they were being treated like pariahs.
A protestor questioning Nawaz Sharif’s moral authority on the issue said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says he is the proponent of truth and he expects the same from the others, but where is the PM while we [protestor] are here protesting in the rain. He also needs to listen to our version of the truth, she said.
“Our houses are being overrun with bulldozers, we are receiving notices from the government to evacuate our homes; how can one possibly think of doing this to one’s own countrymen,” a protestor lamented. “Where will I get the justice if not from the judiciary of this country?”
One of the protestors further said, “We went to the CM and the governor of Balochistan with our grievances but they did not pay any heed to our problems, so we came to the capital expecting impartiality.”
These people are staging a protest in Islamabad for the last few days, irrespective of age, gender and weather; they are standing outside Islamabad press club. A child among the protestors grieved the fact of becoming homeless: “what would I do; my father is dead, and my family is poor.”
Another person said, “FC is not only going after 350 houses and families but it is also planning to occupy half of the city. They are building their main entrance gate at Bacha Khan chowk. After that half of the city will be in FC cantonment, including government boys college, PTCL office, government boys school, law college, DC bungalows and many other offices and soon they will be in control of all these places!”