Capital in mourning: Quetta protests killing of five Hazara men

Provincial capital remains partially shut to vent sorrow at the deaths

QUETTA:

A partial shutter-down strike was observed in Quetta on Monday against the killing of five people of Hazara community the previous day.

It may be mentioned here that the grisly murder took place when unknown assailants opened fire at four shops at the city’s Meezan Chowk.

The strike call was given by the Balochistan Shia Conference and Hazara Democratic Party and supported by the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), National Party (NP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

All the shops and trade centres were closed at Meezan Chowk, Alamdar Road, Toughi Road, Mission Road, MecCongy Road, and Hazara Town of the provincial capital on Monday.

The funeral prayers of the deceased were offered in Hazara graveyard and later they were laid to rest. During the funeral prayers, security was tight with FC and police contingents deployed in the cemetery. The funeral prayers were attended by Shia Conference leader Dawood Agha, HDP chairman Abdul Khaliq Hazara and a large number of the Hazara community members.

A security officer, who suffered serious injuries during the violent protests of the Hazara community, later succumbed to his wounds. The relatives of the security guard Saifullah staged a protest demonstration against the killing.

Frontier Corps Balochistan has claimed to have arrested two suspected militants in a search operation in Quetta on Monday.“Two suspected militants were arrested in a search operation in Quetta,” an FC spokesman said and added that both militants were involved in the killing of Hazara community who were targeted on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) carried out a search operation in the Burma Hotel area of Quetta and arrested two suspected militants of a banned organisation.

Lawyers of Quetta also boycotted the court proceedings on Monday against the killing of Muslims in Myanmar (Burma). The boycott call was given by the Balochistan Bar Association. Lawyers organized a protest rally in Quetta condemning the killing of Rohingyas in Myanmar. The rally was led by the Balochistan Bar Association president Bilal Anwar Kasi.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2015.