JI protests in Quetta against fuel levy, lawlessness

QUETTA witnessed a sit-in protest organized by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Balochistan against a range of grievances, including deteriorating law and order, terrorism, petroleum product levies, and the closure of borders with Iran and Afghanistan. Supporters of the party gathered near the Governor House, carrying party banners and flags, and chanted slogans demanding action on their issues.

Provincial JI leaders, including Emir Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch, participated in the demonstration. At the protest camp, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, an MPA, harshly criticized the government, alleging it remained silent while major political figures and tribal leaders, allegedly backed by the establishment, did nothing. He described Balochistan as “burning” and claimed that political leaders and tribal figures had become spectators of injustice and oppression.

Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, who leads the party under Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, vowed that JI would continue its struggle against oppression and injustice, emphasizing that lawlessness, corruption, and inequality were widening the gap between the rich and poor. He blamed the bureaucracy for its role in corruption while influential sections of society remained indifferent to the province’s problems.

He criticized various aspects of the country's institutions, including the media, judiciary, parliament, and bureaucracy for not playing their independent roles. Maulana Hidayatur Rehman rejected claims that the conflict in Balochistan was a result of ethnic divisions, instead emphasizing it as a struggle against systemic injustice and oppression.