Referring to the massive state of unrest in Baloch regarding the crisis caused due to Beijing's deep seaport construction in Gwadar, Jamaat-i-Islami's (JI) follower Hassan Murad Bakhsh has said that regular daily movements of Baloch people are being hindered due to sudden Chinese VIP arrivals in the city. Baksh is also associated with Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman Baloch who is leading a powerful civil rights movement for the Baloch people against the Pakistan government. Degrading life conditions in Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar has resulted in the citizens feeling that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project has robbed them of their dignity in their own land. In an interview with India Narrative, Murad Bakhsh explained how increasing Chinese influence has pissed off the people of Balochistan.
People of Balochistan resent China's increasing influence in Balochistan | Key Points
1. "When we go out to the sea, we cannot return home because the Chinese VIP movement is happening," Baksh told India Narrative. He also said it causes a lot of trouble when a person spends hours working in the sea and is blocked there due to some Chinese engineer who arrives in the city. "Even if it is a Chinese cook, we have to wait on the roads for hours together," he adds.
2. The JI member added that situations are worse when patients are unable to reach the hospital due to the highway being blocked by the security forces. Clarifying further he says that China doesn't bother the citizens as it's an alien country to them, but, it's rather upsetting to see how their own government is treating them.
3. Bakhsh says that the Imran Khan government does not allow them to earn their living as that they are restricted from going to the border to trade and even the fishing activities in the sea are restricted. "We do not have water and power", he said.
4. "We are angry with our government. We are angry with the check-posts, we are angry with our bureaucrats. We have restrictions on our movement and we cannot go out of our homes. We cannot go anywhere," Bakshi added.
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5. The ongoing 'Give rights to Gwadar' movement or the 'Gwadar ko haq do' protests that the country is witnessing has continued for the past 19 days and the meticulously organised protest has also garnered a lot of international media attention including the Chinese foreign ministry.
