Progressive Students’ Collective strongly condemns the recent police raid on a book stall organized by the Baloch Students Action Committee (BSAC) in Gawadar as part of their “Balochistan Kitaab Karwaan” initiative. This blatant attack on education, free expression, and student activism is a grim reminder of the state’s systematic oppression in Balochistan under the guise of so-called development and progress.
The raid, which resulted in the confiscation of books and the unjust detention of several students, is not an isolated incident. It is part of a broader pattern of repression targeting those who dare to resist the dispossession, displacement, and exploitation of the people of Balochistan in the name of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). While the state projects CPEC as a beacon of economic prosperity, for the people of Balochistan, it has meant forced evictions, loss of livelihoods, environmental destruction, and militarization of their land.
This incident also highlights the ongoing militarization of the region, where even peaceful educational initiatives are met with brute force. The crackdown on book stalls and student-led efforts to promote education reflects a deep-seated fear of an informed and politically aware Baloch youth that challenges the state’s narrative of “development.”
PSC extends its full solidarity to the detained students and the BSAC and demands the immediate release of all those arrested and the return of the confiscated books.
In solidarity,
Progressive Students’ Collective
