Senate voices concern over deteriorating Balochistan law and order situation

PML-N senator says killers of workers in Turbat are not worthy of being called Baloch


Qamar Zaman April 14, 2015
Protesters raise slogans against the killings in Balochistan. PHOTO: ONLINE

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

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

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

Read: ‘Outsiders’ targeted: Orgy of bloodshed let loose in Turbat

Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (Balochistan) Senator Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani said that killers are 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.

Read: 13 suspected militants killed, including those involved in Turbat massacre

“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 up.

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.

Read: Turbat massacre: BLF chief booked as buck-passing begins

Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani asked state minister for interior Baleeghur Rehman to brief the house over workers’ killings.

Talk at LUMS 

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.

Read: Campus freedoms: LUMS students, faculty protest cancellation of Balochistan discussion event

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.

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