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Police arrest students who protest to demand for internet to attend online classes in Balochistan

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 25 Jun 2020

Police arrest students who protest to demand for internet to attend online classes in Balochistan

Quetta: Police on Wednesday arrested  over two dozen students in Quetta as they protested from Quetta Press Club to Balochistan Assembly to demand for access to the internet to attend online classes.

Online classes have become the need of the hour for students across the globe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The students have been staging a demonstration in Quetta for the past few weeks under the banner of Baloch Students Alliance. They are protesting against online classes in universities across the province, reports The Express Tribune.

Mahrang Baloch, an activist and student leader, was also among the arrested female students, who was quoted as saying by the newspaper: "We were protesting for the availability of internet for online classes.”

Police argued the students tried to organize a rally in the city when such attempts have been banned as section 144 has been imposed.

The arrested students were shifted to various police stations in the city.

The Balochistan government had closed all educational institutions in the province in March after a spike in coronavirus cases, reports The Express Tribune.

Poor students, however, cannot access the internet in the region, leading to protests as institutes resorted to online classes to deal with the crisis.