Hazaras want killers arrested in 48 hours

The Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) on Sunday gave a 48-hour ultimatum to the government to arrest the culprits of Kirani Road blast, as death toll reached 84 on Sunday.

The powerful bomb in a packed bazaar in Hazara town, an area dominated by Shias, on Saturday killed at least 84 people and injured over 190 others, 20 of who are reported to be in critical condition.

In a statement on Sunday, HDP chief Azizullah Hazara said the community would stage sit-in outside the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on ad aily basis if the elements behind the killing of Shias were not arrested in the given deadline.

He added that they would also stage protest in Europe, Australia and outside the United Nations.

The HDP leader demanded the government make arrangement to shift the injured of the blast to Karachi and outside the country for better treatment.

Hazara said the killing of Hazara people was not in favour of Pakistan, adding that only targeted operation against the sectarian extremist could control the situation.

The Hazara Shias refused to bury the bodies of the people killed in Saturday’s suicide attack, despite long negotiations with officials of the Balochistan government, just as the Shia community staged nationwide protests against the killing.

“Until our demands are met, we will continue our protest,” said Syed Dawood Agha, the president of Balochistan Shia Conference.

“We will not bury the bodies and continue our protest,” Agha added.

He demanded that targeted operation by the Pakistan Army be conducted against terrorists since civilian law enforcers had failed to provide protection to Shia Muslims.

“We would continue the protest until the terrorist gang is busted,” one of the protesters said.

She said the Hazaras had decided in principle not to bury the dead, since the government was paying mere lip service to their needs.

Earlier, Balochistan Governor Zulfikar Magsi announced compensation for the bereaved families of Quetta blast and accused intelligence agencies of failing failure to do their job.

“Seemingly, the agents are either too scared to go after the terror-mongers or too clueless to even know who they are dealing with,” the governor said.

Protests:

A shutter down strike was observed in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan to mourn Saturday’s deadly blast.

The strike call was given by Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), Hazara Democratic Party, Shia Ulema Council, Quetta Yakjehti Council, Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqah Jafria, Balochistan Shia Conference and others.

Key business centres of the provincial capital remained closed on Sunday amid high security and patrolling in Quetta.

Protests and rallies were also held in other parts of the country. Hundreds of people gathered in Lahore and staged a sit-in outside the Governor’s House. Participants of the sit-in called for the arrest of killers within 48 hours.

Shops, markets and business centres remained closed in all major cities of the countries.

A three-day mourning was announced in Sakurdu on an appeal of Shia Ulema Council (SUC) and MWM.

In Hyderabad, all major business markets remain shut but small bazaars and petrol pumps are open. Flow of traffic also remained thin.

Protest rallies were also taken out in Nawabshah, Khairpur, Badin, Jacobabad and Kandhkot and staged a sit-in at Sheraz Chowk and Ghanta Ghar Chowk.

The Shia Ulema Council (SUC) and Jafria Alliance (JI) led protest rallies in Ghotki, Obaro and Mirpur Mathelo.

In addition, protests were held in Faisalabad, Layyah, Pindi Bhatian, Sargodha and other cities of Punjab against the Quetta carnage.