MULTAN/CHINIOT/ATTOCK/
TOBA TEK SINGH
The activists and leaders of Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), Shia Ulama Council (SUC) and other organisations continued for second consecutive day on Thursday protests and sit-ins in various city of the Punjab province against Mastung carnage.
According to details, in Multan the activists of Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen and Shia Ulama Council continued their sit-in against the Mastung blast at Chowk Nawan Shehr for the second consecutive day on Thursday as Chowk was blocked till filing of this report. Shouting slogans against the government and terrorists, dozens of men, women and children assembled at the Chowk under the leadership of MWM District President Allama Iqtadar Naqvi, ISO District President Dr Irfan Haider and others. They were also holding placards and banners inscribed with their demands regarding immediate arrest and execution of terrorists.
The speakers declared on this occasion that they would not call off their sit-in until it ended in Quetta. They lashed out at the government and said that it completely failed to protect the lives of citizens as the terrorists operated freely and fearlessly. They demanded immediate arrest of the terrorists involved in bomb attacks.
Meanwhile, police made strict security arrangements in view of sit in. All roads leading to Nawan Shehr Chowk were blocked by law enforcing agencies and traffic was not allowed to go to the Chowk. The citizens faced severe inconvenience because of road blockade.
In Chiniot, the sit-in against Mastung terrorists attack disrupted traffic and life in the city and traffic from all highways were stopped. The activists and workers of Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen and other Shia organisations staged a sit-in at Khatme Nabuat Chowk and blocked it for all kind of traffic. Hundreds of protesters including women and children set up camps at the chowk and on roads against Mastung massacre. On the occasion, the Shia leaders said that the government appeared to be helpless in front of a few terrorists and not taking any serious action against militants responsible for the attacks. They vowed to continue sit-in till their demands were not met. On the other hand, long queues of vehicles were witnessed on all roads and traffic police seemed busy diverting traffic from ring road and other routes. However, the traffic could not be restored as thousands of commuters remained stranded in vehicles till filing of this news.
Similarly, in Toba Tek Singh, scores of activists of MWM and ISO staged a sit-in on Jhang Road to condemn the killing of Shia pilgrims in Mastung (Balochistan). They were led by MWM leaders including Nisar Shamsi, Sajjad Kazmi and Syed Safadar Hussain. As a result traffic remained blocked on the road.
In Attock, hundreds of activists of TNFJ, MWM, ISO and SUC took out a rally in protest against the killings of innocent pilgrims in a terrorists attack on a bus in Mastung. Addressing the protestors, the Shia leaders including Syed Khair Ali Shah, Khadim Hussain Naqvi, Syed Ahmad Ali and Niaz Hussaibn Bokhari asked the government to provide security to people or else quit down. They said that only solution to terrorism was a full-fledged operation against the terrorists. The rally was taken out from Kamalpur Syedan which concluded at Kutchery Chowk. The participants of the rally were holding placards and banners inscribed with different slogans.
The speakers said that killing of innocent pilgrims was beyond understanding and said that those who were involved in the terror activities were not muslims rather beasts. They said that the only solution to get rid of them was a full-fledged operation. They ruled out any Shia, Sunni divide saying that both Shia and Sunnis were brethren and were united peace in the country. They demanded the govt give the go-ahead to Pak Army to launch an operation against the terrorists. They said those who are killing innocent people and personnel of Pak Army and Police were dogs and must be crushed with iron hand. They also demanded that Chief Justice to take notice of the Mastung incident and must hold the govt accountable.