The protesters chanted slogans against the government and its functionaries for not arresting the culprits who had assassinated Habib Jalib Advocate.
They criticised the interior minister for making false statements and accused him of diverting the attention of international organisations away from the issue of Balochistan where they said the rights of human beings were being trampled upon by state functionaries.
Addressing the news conference, the party’s central information secretary, Agha Hassan Advocate said that, “Our speculations are coming true and the Pakistan Peoples Party itself is involved in the target killing of Baloch nationalist leaders, including Habib Jalib Baloch.” “Security agencies of the federal government are involved in the ethnic cleansing of Baloch people”.
He has termed the arrest of culprits involved in Habib Jalib’s assassination as “fabricated” and blamed the government for allegedly providing protection to the real mastermind of the murder.
Even now, the military operation continues in parts of Balochistan, he said, alleging that the ethnic cleansing of the Baloch still continued unabated and that the extrajudicial arrest of innocent people was being carried out by state functionaries.
He said that security forces were violating the sanctity of homes and that secret agencies were using dirty tactics to weaken the Baloch nationalist movement. He said the BNP was firm and would not back away from the struggle for Baloch national rights.
Hassan said that police officers have been ‘shamelessly harassing’ the family members of the late Jalib since the incident took place. Relatives of the slain Baloch leader had also been threatened, he added.
They are being mentally tortured and constantly harassed by the police and other law enforcement agencies only to divert attention from the real killers within the Government functionaries.
BNP announced a protest schedule across Balochistan to protest the statement made by Rehman Malik, non-recovery of missing persons, recovery of bullet-riddled dead bodies of Baloch leaders and exploitation of resources of Balochistan.
The party will hold protest demonstration from November 9 to November 15 in different district of Balochistan and a black day would be observed throughout the province on November 16, he maintained.
Habib Jalib was assassinated by unidentified men near his residence on Saryab Road on June 15, 2010.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 5th, 2010.
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