Islamabad/Karachi: Grief-stricken families of Shia pilgrims killed in a bomb blast and members of the minority sect staged protests in Quetta and different parts of Pakistan on Thursday, refusing to bury victims for the third day and demanding operations against those behind the attack.
Members of the Hazara Shia community, frequently targeted by the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, continued their sit-in with bodies of those killed in Tuesday's bombing at Alamdar Road in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.
They said the protest would continue till action is taken against the killers. Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch visited the protesters on Wednesday night to express solidarity. He promised better security for Hazara pilgrims travelling to Iran by road and said the provincial government was mulling the option of launching a ferry service.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to immediately visit Quetta to meet Hazara Shia leaders, Geo News reported. Protesters, including women and children, also staged sit-ins in cities like Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta, Lahore, Multan and Hyderabad to express their anguish.
"Our sit-in on Shuhadaa Chowk at Alamdar Road will continue and we will not bury the dead until an operation is launched against the culprits who attacked and killed the pilgrims in Mastung district," said Syed Musarrat Agha, acting
president of the Balochistan Shia Conference.
Hazara Democratic Party leaders Abdul Hassan Hazara and Mirza Hussain Hazara told the media that sectarianism is being promoted through a planned conspiracy to push Balochistan into an "anarchy-like" situation.
The situation will further deteriorate if authorities do not take notice of the sectarian killings immediately, they said.
In Islamabad, protests were held in Sector F-6 and roads leading to the area were closed. Protesters also blocked an interchange connecting Rawalpindi and Islamabad and demanded action against those behind the bomb attack. The protesters have been in the area since Wednesday night despite the biting cold.
Members of Majlis-e-Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen staged sit-ins at 10 different places in the port city of Karachi. In Lahore, a large number of protesters gathered on the Mall Road outside the Governor's House and blocked the area. Officials negotiated with the protesters on Thursday and opened one side of the road for traffic.
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