Friday, July 16, 2010

Protests against Habib Jalib’s murder continue

* Protesters chant slogans against govt, demand immediate arrest of killers
* BNP-M to observe black day in Karachi today

By Razzak Abro

KARACHI: Different political parties and social organisations continued their protest against the assassination of Balochistan National Party-Mengal group (BNP-M) leader Habib Jalib, for a second consecutive day on Thursday.

The BNP-M has given a call to observe a black day in Karachi on Friday, and appealed to the Baloch residing in the city to participate in the protest by hoisting black flags on their houses, and wearing black ribbons over their arms.

The party leaders gave the call at a protest demonstration held outside the Karachi Press Club. Central committee member of the BNP-M, Hamed Sajna, Karachi chapter President Khalid Hussain Baloch, General Secretary Aftab Baloch, former MPA of the party from Balochistan Akbar Mengal, activists of the party and members of the Baloch Students Organisation participated in the demonstration.

The participants chanted slogans against state agencies, and demanded immediate arrest of Jalib’s murderers. They termed the killing as a part of the chain killings of Baloch leaders, in which Nawab Akbar Bugti, Balach and other leaders were also assassinated.

The protesters demanded an end to the military operation in Balochistan, and an immediate stop to the murders of the Baloch.

‘Balochistan hamara hay’, ‘khooon ka badla khoon hay’, ‘rein in state agencies’ and ‘hang the murderers of Jalib’ were some of the slogans the protesters chanted during the demonstration.

Awami National Party’s central leader Amin Khattak, National Workers Party leader Yousaf Masti Khan and others also participated in the demonstration.

Another protest demonstration was also held outside the Karachi Press Club that was jointly organised by the Labour Party, Workers Party and the Awami Party.

Labour Party’s Mushtaq Shah and Zehra Khan, Workers Party’s Akhtar Hussain Advocate, Awami Party’s Hassan Nasir and Ramza Memon, Jeay Sindh Mahaz’s Abdul Khaliq Junejo and others attended the demonstration.

They condemned the killing of Jalib, and demanded to immediately stop the army action in Balochistan and the killings of people there.

The leaders said that Jalib was a brilliant political leader, who raised his voice seeking rights for the Baloch people throughout his life. They said his services for the oppressed people of Balochistan would be remembered for a long time.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peace Coalition also condemned the ‘cold-blooded’ murder of the former senator and renowned Baloch political leader.

In a joint statement, the members of the group termed the brutal murder an attempt to sabotage the ongoing efforts for the restoration of peace in the politically isolated province.

The group said that Jalib was a senior politician who struggled for the political and economic rights of not only the Baloch, but for the marginalised segment of the society in the entire country.

Civil society activists urged the government to immediately order a judicial inquiry into the incident by a senior judge of the Balochistan High Court and bring the culprits to book.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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