QUETTA - A complete shutterdown strike was observed in most parts of the provincial capital on Tuesday against killing of seven people including four belonging to Hazara community the other day.
The call for the strike was given by Hazara Democratic Party.
Balochistan Shia Conference and Majlish Wahdatul Muslimeen had also announced one-day mourning against the brutal murder of Hazara people at Masjid Road.
All main business centers, markets and the shopping malls located on Toghi Road, Abdul Sattar Road, Alamdar Road, MecChongi Road, Jinnah Road, Hazara Town and adjoining areas remained closed. Banks located at the centre area of the city also remained closed. Stringent security measures were taken by the administration to meet any untoward incident. Police backed by Frontier Corps and Anti-Terrorism Force kept on patrolling on the roads in the provincial capital to ensure law and order and calm.
It may be recalled here that seven people, including four Hazara people, were killed and three others wounded on Monday night in two separate incidents of firing at Masjid Road and Khuda Dad Chowk. An injured person of Khuda Dad Chowk incident, Maulvi Niamatullah, who got serious injuries and was under treated in Combined Military Hospital succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday. On the other hand, the Hazara political parties have threatened to start a civil disobedience movement against the targeted killings of the members of their community.
Addressing a press conference here at Quetta Press Club, Hazara Political Workers’ chief Muhammad Tahir Khan Hazara, Chief of Hazara Jirga Qayyum Chengaizi and the president Shia Conference Daud Agha and MPA Agha Muhammad demanded an immediate halt to killings of Hazara youths. “If these incidents didn’t stop, we will jam the entire city with other parties,” they said, adding that the killers of the four people on Masjid Road were also the killers of three persons at Khuda Dad Chowk.
They said it was a conspiracy to spread sectarian violence in the city. They said they were in a fix as to where they should go to secure their constitutional and fundamental human rights, adding that thousands of Hazara youngsters have been killed during the past few years. “State institutions are directly involved in our massacre,” they alleged and added that instead of providing them protection, they were being pushed against the wall. Blood is spilled in Balochistan and the same treatment is given to Hazara people as meted out to the Baloch and Pushtun, they added.