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Press Release Newsflash BNP announces Balochistan-wide protests over killing of Riaz Zehri
Press Release Newsflash BNP announces Balochistan-wide protests over killing of Riaz Zehri Press Release Newsflash BNP announces Balochistan-wide protests over killing of Riaz Zehri
QUETTA: The Balochistan National Party (BNP) has announced to launch a Balochistan-wide shutter down strike movement from October 30 to November 6 to condemn the murder of police sub-house officer (SHO), Mir Riaz Ahmed Zehri, a son of senior BNP leader Mir Amanullah Zehri.
Riaz Ahmed Zehri was gunned down in Zehri area of Khuzdar district on October 25 by unidentified persons. His murder and subsequent inaction on the part of the government to bring the murderers to justice has sparked a wave of anger and frustration from the BNP supporters.
The Balochistan National Party took out a protest rally outside the Quetta Press Club to condemn the killing and demand the immediate arrest of elements responsible for the killing of Riaz Ahmed. BNP central secretary general, Habib Jalib Baloch, who led the march, announced the schedule for extensive protest rallies across Balochistan.
According to the protest schedule, the BNP will observe complete shutter down strikes in the districts of Noshki, Chagai, Kharan and Washuk today (October 29) which would be followed by similar protests the next day (October 31) in the districts of Mustung, Khuzdar, Kalat and Awaran. The BNP will also observe shutter down strikes in Turbat, Panjgur, Gwadar and Lasbella districts on November 1 while shutter down strikes are planned for Sibi, Naseerabad, Jaffarabad and Barkhan to take place on November 2. The BNP will observe a complete shutter down strike in the provincial capital, Quetta, on November 6.
BNP activists were holding placards in hands during the protest rally and chanted slogans against the government over what they described as its utter failure to bring to justice the murders of Riaz Zehri.
Addressing the protest rally in front of the Quetta Press Club, Habib Jalib Baloch said the Establishment was applying undemocratic tactics such as arresting political activists, subjecting them to enforced disappearance or extrajudicial killings and carrying out military operations in the province to dissuade the BNP from its demand of right to self-determination for the people of Balochistan. However, the BNP has had a full history of peaceful democratic struggle and commitment to its ideology. Therefore, the party was prepared to face all outstanding challenges for the purpose of achieving its goals set for the people of Balochistan.
The BNP secretary general strongly condemned the killing of Riaz Ahmed Zehri and called for the arrest of the killers so that the real faces behind the case were exposed.
“We believe the government is trying to create differences between the Baloch tribes so that they are engaged in internal tribal clashes. If this happens, the government would become the biggest beneficiary because then the Baloch would forget their long-term demands and get immersed in internal vendettas,” he said, warning his party workers to be aware of such intentions of the government which were intended to undermine the Baloch national struggle.
Jalib called upon the United Nations to take notice of the grave violation of human rights in Balochistan by the security forces because the Balochs feel insecure with the presence of forces that are continuously harassing the Baloch people.
WADH: A protest rally was taken out in Wadh area of Khuzdar district to protest over the killing of Riaz Ahmed Zehri. Headed by Mir Zahoor Ahmed Mengal, Tehsil president of the BNP, the rally passed on different roads of the local bazaar and ended in front of the press club.
The speakers of the rally said that the government was once again fanning tribal differences in attempt to divert attention from the actual political problem of Balochistan. They described the killing of Riaz Zehri as a clear threat issued to the BNP and the Baloch movement by the Establishment.
DERA MURAD JAMALI: The BNP also protested over the killing of Riaz Ahmed Zehri in Dera Murad Jamali of Naseerabad district and demanded the arrest of the murderers. The rally, which was attended by Abdul Ghafoor Mengal, member of the party’s central committee, Mir Abdul Baqi, the district president of BNP, and other senior leaders, passed on the national highway and terminated in front of the press club.
Addressing the protest rally, the BNP leaders said a through investigation should be carried out in the murder case of the BNP leaders’ son. They also announced to block the national highway on November 2 to further press the government to register a first investigation report (FIR) into the killing. They appealed to the local people hailing from different walks of life to join them in making the strike a success and convey a clear message to the government that such killings were unlikely to undermine the Baloch resolve to struggle for just democratic rights.