Gwadar is the linchpin of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure endeavours in Pakistan — known collectively as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). But development slowed under the previous leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan amid friction between the two governments. Among local residents, resentment has been simmering for years.
They say Islamabad has failed to address their concerns over thousands of illegal fishing trawlers from abroad and other parts of Pakistan depleting marine resources, along with insufficient water and power supplies and a clampdown on informal trade across the border with Iran.
In this tense atmosphere, a trained cleric from a fishing family has made a name for himself as a defender of the community of about 100,000 residents. Now he looks poised to upend new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s efforts to jump-start Gwadar’s development and promote CPEC.
Molana Hidayat ur Rehman, the leader of Gwadar Ko Haq Do Tehreek (the Gwadar Rights Movement), has announced a major protest starting this Thursday. At a news conference in the northern city of Quetta, Rehman said that the sit-in would last for an indefinite period, accusing the government of not honouring promises it made to him about deep-sea fish trawling and other issues.
He has already shown what he is capable of: Last year, he staged a monthlong sit-in outside the gate of Gwadar Port, where tens of thousands of people gathered.
Rehman wants the government to completely stop deep-sea trawling off Gwadar, ease up on the informal border trade that had supported livelihoods, reduce the number of checkpoints and allow fishermen to operate near the strategic port, among many other local-level demands. He has threatened to shut down the port if his demands are not met.
Asked if the authorities might try to stop him by arresting him, Rehman told local media in Quetta, “I have public support, and if I am arrested (before the start of the protest) then there will be strong reaction across the province” of Balochistan.
Experts say Rehman’s protest, if it goes ahead, really could disrupt activity at the port — and that it would be bad optics for CPEC in Pakistan, where China has invested tens of billions of dollars.
Sharif visited Gwadar twice in June alone, demonstrating his commitment to its development as his cash-strapped government courts Beijing.
Disruptions would be an unwelcome additional headache, particularly after Sharif’s fledgling government just suffered another setback over the weekend, when Khan’s party won key by-elections in Punjab, the country’s most populous province.
Rasheed Baloch, a political analyst based in Quetta, told Nikkei Asia that Rehman’s sit-in would hinder movement in and out of the port. This would include “VIP movements in Gwadar, which are frequent,” he added, referring to visits like Sharif’s or those by Chinese dignitaries.
Baloch said that Rehman knows the “threat of closing down Gwadar Port” is a card he can play to extract “concessions for his Gwadar-focused demands.”
Many see the possible protest as an attempt by Rehman, whom locals affectionately call simply Molana, to cement himself as the town’s most popular leader — smoothing the path to larger political goals.
Nasir Rahim Sohrabi, president of the Rural Community Development Council, told Nikkei that Rehman would use the upcoming protest to strengthen the position of his political group. Already, candidates backed by Rehman won a significant portion of seats in local government polls in May.
“Rehman will use the protest to put pressure on the government so that his candidates are not manipulated out of the mayoral race of Gwadar next month,” Sohrabi said.
Baloch made a similar point. “Last year, the protest of Rehman provided relief to the people of Gwadar, and now he wants to carry out another protest to further gain public sympathy, which can then be translated into electoral success,” he said.
Baloch suggested that Rehman aims to solidify the Gwadar Rights Movement as the most powerful political force in Balochistan’s Makran division, the coastal area that hosts Chinese interests in southwestern Pakistan.
Background interviews with multiple people in Gwadar suggested that Rehman is likely to continue the protest as long as the government does not give him what he wants.
People close to the government dismiss Rehman’s claim that the protest would be for the public’s benefit.
“Since I assumed office in 2018, I have ensured that all major problems of Gwadar get resolved, and most of them have been resolved,” argued Aslam Bhootani, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly representing Gwadar, told Nikkei. He claimed Rehman is staging this fight for political gain.
With just days to go before the protest, Hanif Kiazai, a spokesman for Rehman’s group, said “a meeting of the advisory council of (the Gwadar Rights Movement) will be held soon to decide the exact course of action about the sit-in protest.”
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