Senate voices concern over deteriorating law and order in Balochistan

Lawmakers ask if govt is waiting for bigger attack to step in

Perturbed by the grisly murder of 20 construction workers near Turbat city, in the Kech district of Balochistan, Senate lawmakers on Tuesday sought details of steps the government has taken to avoid such incidents in future.

JUI-F Senator Talha Mahmoud said the law and order situation in Balochistan appeared to have improved but, after this incident, the opposite seemed to be true.

“People would start leaving [the province] again,” Mehmood said.

Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (Balochistan) Senator Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani said the killers were not worthy of being called Baloch.

“If those who kill people using the name of religion are recognised as terrorists, then why are people who are killing people in Balochistan being called Baloch?” he said.

“Such people should also be termed terrorists,” Durrani proposed, referring to a resolution of Balochistan Assembly that endorsed this argument.

He pointed out that the nine security officials, deployed for the protection of workers, were suspended following the incident but no action was taken against higher authorities.

Durrani questioned whether the government was waiting for an incident similar to the Peshawar attack so that they step in.

Balochistan National Party — Mengal’s Dr Jenanzeb Jamaldini held the provincial government responsible for the incident. He asked to the provincial government to look into the factors that were responsible for the worsening situation.

Senator Farhatullah Babar said that “kidnapping and dumping” had become the fate of the people of Balochistan, yet agencies did not allow a university (LUMS) to hold a seminar on human rights of the province.

Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani directed Raja Zafarul Haq to take up the security agencies’ interference in an educational institution’s seminar with the Punjab chief minister.

“Violating the sanctity of academic institutions is inappropriate,” he said.