On a call given by the Baloch Republican Party, a shutter-down strike was observed in the provincial capital and various parts of Balochistan for the second consecutive day on Friday to protest the killing of Balochistan MPA Sardarzada Bakhtiar Khan Domki’s wife and daughter. The deceased, who were also the sister and niece of Baloch BRP chief Bramdagh Bugti and granddaughter of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, were gunned down in Karachi on January 31. A complete shutter-down strike was observed in Dera Allahyar, Naushki, Khuzdar, Mastung, Hub, Washuk, Khuzdar, Sibi, Turbat, and other towns of the province. The strike was also supported by Balochistan National Party-Mengal, National Party (NP) and other nationalist parties. Business and trade activities remained shut as all shops, markets, trading centres, commercial establishments and educational institutions remained closed. Local administrations had put in place tight security measures and law enforcement agencies personnel were deployed throughout. The activists of BNP-Mengal held a demonstration in Naushki, while members of the Domki tribe took out a rally in Dera Murad Jamali, demanding justice.
BA condemns murder of Bugti family’s women
QUETTA: Balochistan Assembly on Friday witnessed heated discussions on the murder of the wife and daughter of its member Bakhtiar Domki in Karachi and several members and provincial ministers staged a walkout in protest. Soon after the session started, provincial minister Mir Asad Baloch took the floor on a point of order and strongly condemned the murder of Bramdagh Bugti’s sister, niece and their driver in Karachi. He said the attack on innocent women was an “extremely cruel and shameful act”, while expressing his surprise over a statement by the Sindh deputy inspector general of Police that the killings were a result of tribal enmity. He alleged that the family members of slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti were being targeted under a well-knit strategy. The minister said that while the government was sympathising with the Bugti family by promising that the killers of Nawab Akbar Bugti would be apprehended, it could not even protect the female members of the Bugti family. He said the rulers should have learnt a lesson from the Bangladesh debacle. He also appealed to the International Court of Justice to play its role and “stop the genocide of the Baloch nation in Pakistan”. Later, he staged a walkout from the assembly and was followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) ministers Nasreen Khaithran and Hammal Kalmati to record their protest against the murders. Awami National Party (ANP) leader Zamarak Khan flayed the Sindh government for saying that the murders were a result of tribal enmity. He said that in Baloch and Pashtun custom no one attacks each others’ children, women and the elderly in tribal enmities, and that people always claim the responsibility after taking revenge for any murder. Senior provincial minister Abdul Wasay called the murder a disgraceful act, saying that assembly members only expressed sympathies on such incidents but forget to take the matter to its logical end. Criticising Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Wasay said the minister’s attitude with Balochistan was not good. He said that earlier a committee was formed to take up the issue of the killings of Baloch and Pashtun people in Karachi, but later the committee was put in the cold storage and chief minister did not take it seriously as well. staff report
