ISLAMABAD:
The Foreign Office on Thursday branded the Baloch protesters, who took to the streets in Sindh and Balochistan, as active participants in a broader campaign of lawlessness and violence.
“Hiding behind a facade of alleged grievances, these elements are operating in collusion with terrorists which is evident from their coordinated efforts to obstruct state responses, including synchronised roadblocks facilitating terrorist attacks,” said Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan at his weekly news briefing.
He was commenting on a statement by the UN experts demanding the release of Baloch protestors.
He said the comments lacked balance and proportionality, downplaying civilian casualties inflicted by terrorist attacks while disregarding the crimes committed by miscreants who deliberately disrupt public services, obstruct freedom of movement, and create an atmosphere of insecurity.
He said that the latest proof of this nexus was their unlawful storming of a District Hospital in Quetta, where they forcibly seized the bodies of five terrorists eliminated during the Jaffar Express hostage rescue operation. Three of these bodies were retrieved back from these violent protestors by the police.
He said that the pattern of “selective and disproportionate” focus by the UN machinery served no constructive purpose. Instead, it inadvertently emboldens extremist elements, fuels unwarranted media sensationalism, incites disorder, and most alarmingly exacerbates societal polarization and fragmentation, he added.
He said that the statement by the UN Special Procedures Mandate Holders stood in stark contradiction to the very essence and spirit of the UN’s own Resolution 2354.
“Rather than supporting a sovereign state in its determined and resolute efforts to combat terrorism, such statements risk legitimising extremist narratives, an outcome that is not only counterproductive but also fundamentally at odds with the principles the UN purports to uphold.”
He welcomed the recently agreed upon limited ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, prohibiting attacks on energy infrastructure and ensuring safe navigation in the Black Sea.
“Pakistan’s position on the Ukraine conflict has been consistent. Pakistan has enjoyed friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine. We have always advocated dialogue and diplomacy, immediate cessation of hostilities and peaceful resolution of this conflict,” he remarked.
Spokesperson Khan expressed concerns over the series of raids by the Indian authorities on the residences belonging to members of different constituents of All Parties Hurriyat Conference in IIOJK which he said were aimed at crushing dissent and intimidating the local people.
