Balochistan-based news channel back on air

Vash News channel was suspended by authorities after airing a protest march in Quetta

Baloch residents in the UAE and other GCC countries expressed joy after the only Baloch language news channel, Vash News, resumed services after authorities temporarily took it off air.

The regulatory authorities stopped the broadcast of the channel after its extensive coverage of a long march by family members of the hundreds of missing and murdered Baloch political activists, who raised their voices against the establishment.

The march began on October 27 last year from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, with the group of 900 having walked more than 1,200 kilometres. The protestors include men and women of all ages, and children.

Vash News was launched by two brothers from Gwadar, Ahmed and Awais Iqbal, who sold all of their inherited land and houses to finance the project.

The channel resumed services amid national and international pressure. The channel was taken off air about two weeks ago.

Mohsin Baloch, an Abu Dhabi resident, said the establishment had blocked all the public and private sector advertisements.

“They had a big financial crisis because of lack of advertisements. But thanks to Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malek Baloch, who announced a huge fund and adviced all the provincial government departments to set aside a quota of ads for the support of the channel, the channel resumed services.” he said.

Illahi Bukhsh, another Abu Dhabi resident, said the channel was under intense pressure from the establishment, forcing the management to temporarily suspend the services.

“Now we are happy Vash News is back on air. This is the main source of news from back home in Balochistan, since the other channels hardly have any news from there. Now we can also follow the long march. For instance, last night the channel flashed the news that the long march had reached Naoshero Feroze in Sindh.”

Mohammed Yasin Al Houthi from Birka in Oman was also happy the channel was back.

“For several days we missed the news from Balochistan and Balochi music and entertainment shows. It is the only news channel for over 20 million Baloch population all over the world. Here in Oman, there is a huge Baloch population and the channel is very popular among them.”

The long march is organised by Voice Baloch Missing Persons led by Qadeer Baloch. His son was picked up by security agencies from their home and was found dead in an isolated area in 2011.

When the long march reached the Sindh province, hundreds of people and political activists greeted it with rose petal showers.

The march was also joined by Mir Mohammed Ali Talpur, a former prince of the Talpur Dynasty, which ruled the entire Sindh area for more than 100 years. The 70-year-old Talpur hosted the participants in his Royal Talpur Palace near Hyderabad.

The long march will conclude at the UN office in Islamabad. They will stage a sit-in at the UN office and the Parliament House until all the missing people appear. More than a thousand Baloch political and social activists are missing and an equal number have been found dead since 2004.— nissar@khaleejtimes.com