Gwadar's Haq Do Tehreek leader Maulana Hidayatur Rehman finally walks free

• “The struggle for rights will continue,” announces Rehman.
• He was behind bars on murder charges for over four months.
• "I believe in the Constitution and the law," HDT leader adds.

Gwadar’s Haq Do Tehreek (HDT) chief Maulana Hidayatur Rehman — arrested from court premises — has finally been released after he remained behind bars for over four months.

The HDT leader had been in detention on murder charges. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had on May 18 granted bail to Rehman against surety bonds worth Rs300,000 but he could not be released.

A day earlier, a sessions court in Gwadar sent the HDT leader to the judicial lockup after his appearance before the court.

Speaking to journalists after being produced before the sessions court, Rehman — who is also a local leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami — said that despite a span of five days, the orders of the apex court have not yet reached the sessions court.

The JI leader maintained that he has told his lawyer not to submit any further petition. “I am a political activist. I believe in the Constitution and the law. I have been in jail for four and a half months in a false case of murder,” he added.

After his release, the Haq Do Tehreek leader thanked JI Emir Sirajul Haq, lawyers, Abdul Haq Hashmi, Lashkari Raisani, Humayun Kurd, and others for their efforts for his release.

“The struggle for rights will continue in the future,” announced the JI leader.

The arrest and protests

A heavy police contingent arrested the HDT leader and three others, including Naseeb Nosherwani and Hassan Murad, from the premises of a local court in Gwadar in January.

The HDT leader was nominated in the first information report (FIR) of the death of a police constable — Yasir Saeed — who was killed by unknown assailants on November 27 during a protest in Gwadar.

The police, in a statement, said a bullet hit the constable in the neck and he died on the spot. Following this, Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove ordered the police to register a case against the HDT leader.

The FIR, in which Rehman and others were nominated, alleged that the HDT leader provoked and incited people at the protest to pelt stones at government vehicles, following which the people threw stones and shattered the windowpanes of a police officer’s car.

The Gwadar protests, in which the unfortunate incident took place, had a wide range of demands and had been going on for two months under the HDT leadership.

The protestors were demanding a reduction in the number of check posts, easier border trade, and a total end to deep-sea fish trawling in the sea next to Gwadar.