G-B shooting: Protest against barbaric killings continues

Opposition leaders criticise police, administration’s incapability to compensate victims.

ISLAMABAD:

The youth of Giligit-Baltistan (G-B) on Saturday continued their protest against the brutal killings of a father and his son in Hunza by police.

Activists of the Gilgit-Baltistan Student Federation gathered in front of the National Press Club and Karachi Company and held G-B Chief Minister responsible for the incident. The two deceased were victims of the Attabad landslide and were protesting on Thursday, demanding compensation for the losses they had incurred.

“It seems that G-B has been converted into a police state as peaceful protesters are killed,” said Inam Karim, a youth leading a group of protesters. Karim said the police were issued directives to shoot on the CM’s arrival. The protesters vowed that they would continue their protest as long as the government does not take serious action against those responsible for the incident.

Kamil Jan, another charged protester, said that police has crossed all ethical and professional limitations while shooting the armless protesters. “The provincial government has failed at an administrative level and is trying to conceal this by killing the affected people of G-B,” he said.

Bashir Ahmed Khan, G-B Legislative Assembly opposition leader, condemned the actions and said the incident showed the unprofessional attitude of the police. He added that the fact that the affected people have not been compensated even after a year and a half of the disaster was due to the provincial government’s weakness.

A social activist Ahmed Jan said that it was the worst example of police brutality against civilians, unprecedented for G-B, a relatively peaceful area. Jan said the incident has not only created fear and frustration among the disaster-hit inhabitants of Hunza but will also prove to be detrimental to tourism in the valley.

“We condemn this act and demand that those who are responsible for this heinous crime against humanity be exposed,” he added. He also demanded the government to form an independent commission to probe into the incident.



Published in The Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2011.