In Turbat, the main city of Kech district in Balochistan, leaders of the Private Schools Association Kech and school heads held an emergency press conference at the Turbat Press Club, condemning the firing at and damaging of CCTV cameras at Rizn School in Mehnaz, Buleda, and announcing that educational institutions across Makran would remain closed on 6 October.
Addressing the press conference, Rizn School Buleda director Zahoor Ahmed, association president Sudheer Luqman, vice-president Haji Karim Bakhsh, general secretary Mushtaq Mehmood, Delta School head Murad Ismail, Zahid Hussain, Mehrab Taj, Yar Muhammad Sakim, Asad Buledi, Saddam Baloch, Yasir Dilmurad, Baqir Ali, Abdul Khaliq and others warned that if attacks on educational institutions are not stopped, the protest will be extended across Balochistan.
Holding the press conference with leaders of the Private Schools Association Kech, Rizn School Buleda director Zahoor Ahmed said that on Friday in the Mehnaz area of Buleda, eight armed masked men allegedly climbed over the school gate, entered and opened fire, damaging the CCTV cameras installed there, after which panic spread in the area.
He said this is not the first incident of educational institutions being targeted in Buleda; similar incidents have previously occurred at Sach School, Gulbang School, Sunj School Mehnaz and Kahkashan School. According to him, the repeated targeting of educational institutions is not a coincidence but a worrying pattern aimed at disrupting learning and education.
Leaders of the Private Schools Association said about 40 per cent of students across Makran study at private institutions. Such incidents not only disrupt students’ education but also cause mental torment and fear for parents, teachers and the local population.
They made clear that school owners will not abandon the struggle to promote knowledge and awareness because of such tactics. They demanded that the district administration and relevant authorities take notice of the incident, take effective measures to protect educational institutions, and identify those involved and bring them to justice.
The association’s leaders jointly announced that educational institutions across Makran will remain closed on 6 October in protest against the incident. They warned that if the targeting of educational institutions is not stopped, the protest will be widened across the province.
The leaders said the matter is not limited to one school but concerns the future of Makran’s educational institutions and students, and requires the immediate attention of the relevant authorities.
