Protesters from Balochistan were on an agenda, provincial chief minister Jan Achakzai said on Sunday and explicitly stated that they could not represent people from the resource-rich but backward province.

“A handful of people on an agenda went from Turbat and marched towards Islamabad. They tried to manipulate people’s minds through media,” he said at a press conference in Quetta.

A group of people from Balochistan that has been protesting against the killing of a youth reached the federal capital on Wednesday. They are being led by the Baloch Yakjehti Council. The organisers of the protest had accused police of beating women protesters and children, an allegation police have denied.

Earlier this week, President Arif Alvi and caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar expressed concerns over the mistreatment of Baloch protesters by the Islamabad police.

At the press conference, Achakzai wondered why no one talked about those who were killed for their ethnicity. “Missing persons are terrorists of BLA. Whether they are in the mountains or get training at training camps operated by India,” he said.

The minister alleged that terrorists were pressuring the state with the help of women. He clarified that there was not any committee or solidarity council.

Achakzai was of the view that the demand for disarming the CTD was ingenuous and no women protester was tortured.

Police say arrested Baloch protesters being released after bail approval

The arrested Baloch protesters were being released on Sunday after the court granted them bail, the Islamabad police said.

“Keeping in view the legal requirements, the bail pleas of the arrested protesters have been approved. Arrested protesters are being released,” they said in a post on X.

A judicial magistrate approved on Saturday bail applications of 162 Baloch protesters who were arrested by the Islamabad police on Wednesday night.

Judicial Magistrate Mureed Abbas approved the bail and directed the protesters to submit Rs5,000 worth of surety bonds.

They added that relatives of arrested persons should contact for information and assistance so that legal assistance can be provided to them.

Talks ongoing, says govt

Negotiations with the Baloch protesters were under way, the interior ministry said earlier in the day, as they continue to protest outside the National Press Club in Islamabad for their unmet demands.

“A cabinet committee formed by the prime minister is holding talks with the protesters,” Interior Secretary Aftab Akbar Durrani was quoted as saying by the ministry in a post on X. “Every Pakistani citizen has the right to peaceful protest.”

The tweet came a day after a delegation from the government met with the protesters in the federal capital.

Fawad Hasan Fawad, Murtaza Solangi, Balochistan Governor Malik Wali Kakar, and members of the cabinet committee held talks with the protesters on Saturday. According to the government, discussions were held in a “very good atmosphere” from both sides and both sides agreed to continue negotiations.

“It has been ensured that the protesters do not face any kind of violence or harassment, but no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands. The execution of court orders will be ensured,” the secretary said.