Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has taken serious notice of the killings of Hazara Shias in Quetta, almost two days after twin bombings ripped through the Hazara-dominated Alamdar Road of the city. The PM landed in Quetta today.
Meanwhile, the routine condemnations, assurances, orders and vows continued on Saturday as the Hazara community braved sub-zero temperature in Quetta overnight to continue with their protest against the minority community’s persisted targeting. The Shias have refused to bury the dead until Quetta is handed over to the military and the chief justice of Pakistan takes suo motu notice of the persecution of the minority Muslim sect.
Women, children and elderly men have been sitting in the cold on Alamdar Road in tears, wailing and crying out to someone to take note of the barbarism directed at them, but no concrete measures were seen until late at night except frantic efforts by Balochistan Governor Zulfiqar Magsi and Religious Affairs Minister Khurshid Shah to convince the protesters to end their sit-in demonstration.
But Hazaras have rejected the condolences and assurances.
Talking to reporters after the talks, Shah said an important meeting had been convened in Karachi on Sunday (today) to discuss the law and order in Balochistan. Shah said he had sought a day to meet the demands of protesters.
“We will continue our sit-in until Quetta is handed over to the army,” Syed Dawood Agha, chief of Balochistan Shia Conference, said, adding that the provincial government and police had completely failed to provide security to them.
“We have requested them to bury the dead but they are not listening,” Quetta Capital City Police Officer Zubair Mehmood said. He said the government had given an assurance to the families and relatives of victims that the perpetrators would be brought to book.
Earlier, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ordered PPP Balochistan President Mir Sadiq Umrani to visit Alamdar Road to convey his condolences and urge the protesting Hazaras to end their sit-in. However, Umrani’s efforts to cajole the protesters also failed.
Thousands of people staged protests in other cities of the country also to demand justice for the Hazara Shias.
Protests were staged in almost all cities and towns, including Lahore, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Khairpur and Karachi, where protesters blocked the National Highway and Shahrah-e-Faisal for hours.
On the other hand, the prime minister ordered the Frontier Corps to extend assistance to the civil administration in the maintenance of law and order, giving it all powers of police. He issued the directives after a meeting with Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
Ashraf announced Rs 1 million each for the dead and Rs 100,000 for those injured in Thursday’s bombings, a move unlikely to win over mourners.
The PM also directed the provincial and federal law enforcement agencies to work in coordination under the provincial government. He also asked Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani to return from Dubai immediately. The CM has failed to issue a single statement condemning the attacks despite the passage of two days, something which has further strengthened the protesting Shias’ resolve that the current political dispensation is not competent enough to protect them and the army must take charge of the situation.
Meanwhile Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) would observe a nationwide ‘day of mourning’ today over the martyrdom of more than one hundred innocent people in Swat/Quetta bombings. In a statement, MQM Chief Altaf Hussain appealed to the masses to show solidarity to the Shittes living in Pakistan. He also urged the traders to not undertake commercial activities. He said that “I urge all the people to keep calm and remain peaceful”. He said that all the legitimate demands of the mourners including handing over the city to Army should be accepted without further delay.
What a shame for the entire 180 million population of Pakistan that their brothers and sisters with their kids, are protesting in Quetta since 2 PM of last Friday under minus 4 degrees C, with more than 7 dozen unburied corpses. And we are sleeping under our cozy houses. This is callousness at its worst.
Mr. Chief Justice BHC and Mr. Chief Justice SC of Pakistan, hope you are aware of these miseries of the suffering community of Hazara tribe in Quetta.
Wake up Pakistan, before its too late.
its about time we should stand firmly against the killing of our brotherz and sisterz..
We need be united against brutal monsters of LeJ, as they working on anti-Muslim agenda.
Govt need to act fast by agreeing to their demands.
What a shame for the entire nation. The blood of these innocents will not be wasted. This nation is going towards a bloodiest revolution.
Almost 38 hours after the PM notices it while the country cries from the moment it happened,what a shame,where is that Zardari??? And who the h..l is Bilawal to order people around on the account of the government? Oh thats right,Zardari is too busy making deals with MQM to save his a–s.DOOB MARO PPP government,all of you.
And you were looking for such an opportunity to bash PPP…being a PMLN supporter.
If you believe I'm a PML-N supporter then you are a bigger moron then I think you are,but what I am is a PPP,PML-N,PTI,MQM or any other party in Pakistan critic because they have the same basic agenda of talking loud and saying nothing.So eat your words idiot,non of them will ever be good for Pakistan and as long as we have idiots like you to vote the next government in,we will have the same results.
our authorities and the think tanks of the nation , should try to sort out the root causes of terrorism in the country , they must consider the every single dimension and aspect of such acts. they should make the religious leaders of the different sects sit together and share differences, conduct a comparative studies and arrive consensus acceptable to all. finalize conclusions by preparing a draft that removes misapprehensions , ends up messy literature war against the followers of the different religious groups.
condolences , assurances , actions after perpetrations is not the solution of this issue… the menace of terrorism can only be eradicated by initiating broad based , envisioned, scientific approaches of problem solving techniques. May Almighty ALLAH award vision and wisdom to the policy makers of the state Pakistan.
Media must feel ashamed & not proud
In Quetta people are sitting along with 85 dead bodies for last 4 days in protest which is very much absolutely unprecedented and heartbroken and the aggrieved do not want to bury their loved ones unless and until their demands to remove chief minister and handing over Quetta to army is met, they will continue the protest which is quite but natural but at the same time I am really pinched to pen that our all television channels did not share their untold grief whatsoever otherwise they had stopped showing musical and laughter programs and advertisements but who cares. Will all television program directors do alike if one of their own bloods is one of those whose bodies can be seen in Quetta? Answer to my question will itself decide if our media should feel ashamed or proud.
Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait / Mobile 66229897 / [email protected]
I have said it once. I will say it again. When the people of Pakistan did not bother when over one hundred Ahmadis were killed or when christians are targetted, you will only get what happened in Quetta.
foulmouthed · or another nation will be born like Bangladesh
Shame on government who cannot provide any security for the peaceful community of Hazaras.
This is the FIRST TIME that PPP's Prime Minister dared fly to Quetta. After numerous hearings in MISSING PERSONS CASE and TARGET KILLINGS Case, the Supreme Court had observed in October 2012 that the provincial government of Balochistan has Lost its right of Governance. But the PPP coalition Government kept burried it's head in sand!!
Pakistan Shiite refused burying their dead until Pakistan PM Raja Pervez Ashraf Guarantees their safety in Quetta. Pakistan Shiite influenced BBC Headlines to picture Pakistan Shiite minorities as endangered species murdered for fun by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi who ain’t Muslims but Sunni criminals. BBC never bothered to learn some geography that Quetta is the Sunni capital of Baluchistan which swarmed by 500,000 Stateless Shiite parasitizing on its vulnerable economy and Sunni lifestyle. The bomb blew up in snooker-hall full Shiite who are supposed to be in mosque not boozing around during Friday Juma prayer. Shiite are under 10% not 20% of Pakistan population as BBC stats. Pakistan PM Raja Pervez Ashraf must not drain state treasury on ethnic cleansing. He must advice Shiite to pack up and go back to Iran where they belong.
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