HDT chief's detention.

RATHER than lending a sympathetic ear to the people of Balochistan, the state's response more often than not is to yield a big stick. This has certainly been the response to the Haq Do Tehreek's protests in Gwadar and other parts of Makran. The HDT's leader, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, has been in jail since mid-January, after a policeman died when supporters of his movement and law enforcers clashed. While protests had largely declined since the maulana's arrest, the people of Gwadar are now back on the streets. A recent demonstration saw Gwadar's women demanding basic facilities for their area, and lamenting the fact that Maulana Hidayat had been locked up for raising the area's issues. Recently, the leadership of Jamaat-i-Islami, to which the maulana belongs, also warned the state to release the HDT leader. Hidayatur Rehman has been denied bail by the Balochistan High Court. Interestingly, as the protesters point out, provincial minister Abdul Rehman Khetran, who has been accused of involvement in a triple-murder case, was recently granted bail.

The fact is that...