A Pakistan Day rally organised by the PTI on Sunday met “resistance” as it made its way to the Mazar-i-Quaid, according to a statement from the party.

According to the statement issued by party spokesperson Mohammed Ali Bozdar, the rally was led by PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, Karachi President Raja Azhar, General Secretary Arsalan Khalid, and other party leaders.

The demonstration, which commenced from Empress Market, was scheduled to reach Mazar-i-Quaid. “However, law enforcement authorities placed barricades at multiple locations in an attempt to obstruct the march,” the statement read.

“Heavy police deployment was observed around the Press Club, while at Mazar-i-Quaid, officials allegedly used force to disperse participants, resulting in several PTI workers being manhandled,” the party alleged.

Condemning the police action, Haleem Adil Sheikh was quoted as saying, “We are patriotic Pakistanis, yet we are being stopped from celebrating Pakistan Day. We are carrying national flags, not weapons.”

He alleged that the Sindh government was operating under a “dictatorship” led by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, alleging that police were focusing on suppressing the PTI rather than curbing street crime in Karachi.

Raja Azhar also denounced the crackdown, questioning, “As Pakistani citizens, do we not have the right to celebrate Pakistan Day?”

In the statement, he claimed that Bilawal’s “illegitimate government” was nearing its end and predicted the downfall of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Sindh.

“During the rally, participants waved both Pakistani and PTI flags while chanting slogans demanding the release of Imran Khan and criticising the government’s policies,” the statement read.

When contacted, South Deputy Inspector General of Police Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.com that police cordoned off the Karachi Press Club due to “security reasons” by parking buses on Sarwar Shaheed Road along others, and erecting temporary barriers.

Taken From Dawn News

https://www.dawn.com/news/1899875/ptis-pakistan-day-rally-faces-resistance-in-karachi-party

In a recent interview, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke positively about India’s relationship with long-time rival China. He said normalcy had returned to the disputed India-China border and called for stronger ties.

These are striking comments, because tensions have been high since a nasty border clash in the northern Ladakh region in 2020 – the deadliest since a 1962 war.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning expressed appreciation for Modi’s words and declared that “the two countries should be partners that contribute to each other’s success”.

Modi’s pitch for closer partnership isn’t actually as big of a leap as it may seem, given recent improvements in bilateral ties. But the relationship remains strained, and much will need to fall into place – bilaterally and more broadly geopolitically – for it to enjoy a true rapprochement.

India-China ties have many bright spots.

Bilateral trade is consistently robust; even after the Ladakh clash, China has been India’s top trade partner. They co-operate multilaterally, from Brics, the alliance of major developing countries, to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. They share interests in advancing non-Western economic models, countering Islamist terrorism and rejecting what they deem US moral crusading.

Even after the Ladakh clash sunk ties to their lowest level in decades, the two militaries continued to hold high-level dialogues, which resulted in a deal in October to resume border patrols. Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Brics summit in Russia that month and they pledged further co-operation. In January, the two sides agreed to resume direct flights.

Still, the relationship remains troubled.

Each side has close security ties with the other’s main competitor: India with the US and China with Pakistan.

China opposes Indian policies in the disputed Kashmir region. Beijing frustrates India’s great power ambitions by blocking its membership in influential groupings like the Nuclear Suppliers Group and permanent membership on the UN Security Council.

China has a large naval presence, and its only overseas military base, in India’s broader maritime backyard.

The Belt and Road Initiative, the connectivity corridor through which Beijing has expanded its footprint in India’s neighbourhood, is categorically rejected by Delhi for passing through India-claimed territory.

• Bangladesh wooed by China as ties with India fray
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Meanwhile, India is deepening ties with Taiwan, which China views as a renegade province. It hosts the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader. Beijing regards him as a dangerous separatist.

India is negotiating sales of supersonic missiles to Southeast Asian states that could be used to deter Chinese provocations in the South China Sea. China views several global forums to which India belongs, such as the Indo-Pacific Quad and the Middle East Europe Economic Corridor, as attempts to counter it.

There are several signposts to watch to get a better sense of the relationship’s future trajectory.

One is border talks. Fifty thousand squares miles of the 2,100-mile (3,380km)-long frontier – an area equal to the size of Greece – remain disputed.

The situation on the border is the biggest bellwether of the relationship. The Ladakh clash shattered trust; last year’s patrolling deal helped restore it. If the two sides can produce more confidence-building measures, this would bode well for relations.

Future high-level engagement is also important. If Modi and Xi, both of whom place a premium on personal diplomacy, meet this year, this would bolster recent momentum in bilateral ties. They’ll have opportunities on the sidelines of leaders summits for Brics in July, G20 in November and the Shanghai Co-operation Group (SCO) sometime later this year.

Another key signpost is Chinese investment, which would bring critical capital to key Indian industries from manufacturing to renewables and help ease India’s $85bn (£65.7bn) trade deficit with China.

An increase in such investme ts would give India a timely economic boost and China more access to the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Stronger commercial co-operation would provide more incentives to keep broader tensions down.

Regional and global developments are also worth watching.

Four of India’s neighbours – Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka – recently had new leaders take office who are more pro-China than their predecessors. But so far, they’ve sought to balance ties with Beijing and Delhi, not align with China.

If this continues, Delhi’s concerns about Beijing’s influence in India’s neighbourhood could lessen a bit. Additionally, if China were to pull back from its growing partnership with India’s close friend Russia – a more likely outcome if there’s an end to the war in Ukraine, which has deepened Moscow’s dependence on Beijing – this could help India-China ties.

The Trump factor looms large, too.

US President Donald Trump, despite slapping tariffs on China, has telegraphed a desire to ease tensions with Beijing.

If he does, and Delhi fears Washington may not be as committed to helping India counter China, then India would want to ensure its own ties with China are in a better place.

• India’s balancing act with West as Brics flexes new muscles
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Additionally, if Trump’s impending reciprocal tariff policy hits India hard – and given the 10% average tariff differentials between the US and India, it certainly could – India will have another incentive to strengthen commercial cooperation with Beijing.

India and China are Asia’s two largest countries, and both view themselves as proud civilisation states.

They’re natural competitors. But recent positive developments in ties, coupled with the potential for bilateral progress on other fronts, could bring more stability to the relationship – and ensure Modi’s conciliatory language isn’t mere rhetoric.

Taken From BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4nkxv4e4po

Relatives are not being allowed to meet and deliver food to Dr Mahrang Baloch while she is in custody in Quetta District Jail, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader’s sister alleged on Sunday.

The BYC’s chief organiser and 16 other activists were arrested from their protest camp at Quetta’s Sariab Road, while a police crackdown on its sit-in against alleged enforced disappearances continues.

Asma Baloch told Dawn.com that more than 24 hours have passed, but Mahrang has not been produced in court nor is she allowed access to legal counsel.

“The authorities at Quetta District Jail did not allow us to meet my sister and we were not allowed to deliver food and other essential items to her,” Asma alleged, adding that these items were returned by jail authorities.

“This morning we waited outside the jail for more than 2 hours and kept requesting to meet her, but we were denied access and not allowed to deliver clothes and food.”

The BYC has issued protest calls on social media platform X in both Karachi and Quetta for March 24 (tomorrow), with the protest at the Karachi Press Club organised in collaboration with civil society members.

The demonstrators will protest the “illegal detention” of both Mahrang and Bebarg Baloch in the two cities, calling the arrests “a direct attack on fundamental human rights, justice, and freedom of expression”.

According to the X posts, the protest at the Karachi Press Club is scheduled for 4pm, while the protest in Quetta is scheduled for noon.

Meanwhile, the situation in Quetta returned to normal on Sunday — a day after a partial shutdown — while a shutter-down strike continued for a second day in some cities across Balochistan in response to a call by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s (BYC), which demanded the release of its leadership.

Mahrang had been leading the protest against the arrests of BYC activist Bebarg Baloch, his brother, and Bolan Medical College Vice Principal Dr Ilyas Baloch and his family members. Dr Ilyas and his relatives have been released. The participants were also protesting against the alleged burial of 13 bodies without identification.

The strike call had been issued after the BYC claimed on Friday that three of its protesters were killed by blank shots allegedly fired by the police. However, Quetta Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat had denied the claim, saying the deaths resulted from alleged firing by “armed elements accompanying BYC leadership”.

According to a Dawn.com correspondent, the situation in Quetta returned to normal today after the provincial capital observed a partial shutdown and wheel-jam strike yesterday.

While the main businesses and markets remained open on Saturday, Sariab Road, Brewery Road as well as some other areas on the city’s outskirts had remained closed.

Shops in Gwadar and Surab, where a strike was reported yesterday, also reopened today, Dawn.com correspondents said.

On its side, the BYC issued a call for another protest at the Qambrani road in Quetta at 4pm today.

It said the protest was against the state’s actions in Balochistan as well as the arrest of Mahrang and other leaders, and urged the province’s people to come out of their homes to support the movement.

In a statement on Mahrang’s X account, her sister urged the public to raise their voice for the “safe release of Mahrang Baloch, Beboo Baloch, Bebagar Baloch, and their friends”.

“As long as she (Mahrang) remains unlawfully detained by the state of Pakistan, I will be managing this account and providing updates on her situation,” the post purportedly made by her sister said.

Amnesty International called for Mahrang’s release in a post on X, stating that she had been unlawfully detained for over 38 hours.

“More than 38 hours since Mahrang Baloch’s unlawful detention, she is still being denied access to her lawyers and family,” Amnesty wrote. “There are also worrying reports of continued arbitrary arrests and detentions across Balochistan province.

“Pakistani authorities must immediately release Mahrang Baloch and all others being detained for exercising their right to peaceful protest, and refrain from implicating Baloch activists in frivolous cases to unlawfully prolong their detention,” the NGO said.

According to Hub Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Imam Bakhsh Baloch, six people, including Imran Baloch, the former chairman of the Baloch Students Organisation (BSO), have been arrested.

The DSP told Dawn.com that Imran Baloch was arrested in connection with two previously registered cases, while investigations are underway into the other arrested suspects.

“Imran was absconding in both cases,” the DSP said.

Some Balochistan cities remain shut

However, shutter-down strikes continued in Kech’s Turbat as well as in Panjgur, Noshki, Kalat and Chagai districts, Dawn.com correspondents reported.

Protests by BYC supporters were also held in Kech and at Bhawani near Hub on the Karachi-Quetta Highway, where traffic had been suspended yesterday due to road blockades.

The BYC shared purported visuals of closed shops in Kech, Noshki, Kharan, and Kalat. Videos shared by the committee also showed dozens, mostly women, at a sit-in in Kech and a rally purportedly held in Chagai.

In another post, the BYC claimed that one protester was arrested earlier today at Hub as “police and security personnel launched a crackdown on the protest camp, where families of missing persons and BYC activists were peacefully gathered”.

“They dismantled the tent, fired tear gas, and opened fire, sabotaging the protest,” it added.

On Saturday, strikes had been reported in Mastung, Khuzdar, Hub, Bela, Surab, Gwadar, Dera Murad Jamali and some other areas as well.

Meanwhile, the roads in Khuzdar, Surab, Kalat and Mastung were opened last night after talks were held with the local administrations. Traffic had been suspended yesterday between Quetta and Karachi, as well as Quetta and Taftan due to the blocking of highways.

By late Saturday night, the supporters of BYC were present in the Saroyan area and ‘clashes’ between the protesters and the BYC continued. Police were using tear gas to disperse the mob.

Reports also suggested that the post office of Balochistan University and many shops on Sariab Road had been torched while a heavy contingent was present in the area to disperse the protesters.

However, the protest quickly turned violent as BYC protesters and their armed accomplices allegedly resorted to stone-pelting, indiscriminate firing, and attacks on law enforcement personnel. During the unrest, three individuals lost their lives due to alleged firing by “armed elements accompanying BYC leadership”.

“Civil authorities and police emphasised that the deceased individuals’ bodies needed examination to ascertain the actual circumstances of their deaths. Despite knowing that all three — one of whom was an Afghan national — were killed by their own associates, the BYC leadership refused to hand over the bodies.

Meanwhile, a first information report (FIR) was filed with Civil Lines police station in Quetta on March 19 against Mahrang and 12 other named suspects over the attack on Civil Hospital.

According to the FIR, seen by Dawn.com, Baloch has been charged under Sections 124A (sedition), 147 (punishment for rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 337AD (fighting and vandalism), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 356 (assault or criminal force in attempt to commit theft of property carried by a person) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

These sections were read with Section 11V (directing terrorist activities) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

According to the FIR, up to 150 people stormed the morgue at Civil Hospital and took the bodies of the terrorists killed during the Jaffar Express train hijacking.

HDT chief Hidayatur Rehman ‘ready to mediate’

Separately, Haq Do Tehreek chief Maulana Hidayatur Rehman said he was ready to mediate between the government and the BYC to reduce the tensions.

Rehman, also a Balochistan MPA from Jamaat-i-Islami, said in a statement issued by the HDT that the “people of Balochistan cannot afford more bodies”.

Expressing concern over the recent incidents in Quetta related to the BYC, Rehman said “peace cannot be established with violence and coercion”.

Rehman said he was ready to mediate, with the agreement of the parties, so that the “release of the prisoners and public relief were possible”. He stressed that any further conflict would not be in the public interest as the people were the most affected by the current situation.

Taken From DAWN News

https://www.dawn.com/news/1899848/relatives-not-allowed-to-meet-deliver-food-to-mahrang-baloch-in-quetta-district-jail-family-alleges