Balochistan Weeps As Jalib Departs

There were violence and disturbances everywhere in Balochistan. The Trouble started first in Quetta when the BNP workers took the body from Civil Hospital for the Governor's House and the CM Secretariat for a forceful protest.

QUETTA: The killing of Secretary General of Balochistan National Party (BNP) Mengal Habib Jalib here on Wednesday totally paralyzed life in the province amid protests and demonstration.
As per details, the life in Balochistan came to a standstill when unknown armed men gunned down former Senator Habib Jalib when he was sitting in a shop at Pirkaniabad area of Sariab.
Following the incident, his relatives and activists of BNP gathered at Civil Hospital, took to streets, and blocked Jinnah road in front of Civil Hospital.
Later on, the dead body of the deceased leader was taken to Governor House, where they staged protest demonstration and raised slogans for the arrest of the perpetrators.
Complete shutter down strike was observed in various areas of the province including Qallat, Dalbadin and Awaran, Noshki, Mustung and Khuzdar while markets in Quetta remained closed with thin traffic on roads.
Vehicular traffic on National Highways and RCD highway remained suspended for entire day while rail traffic were blocked for quite some time causing delay in the departure of Pishawar- bound Quetta Express and Karachi- bound Bolan Express.
All educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities were closed following the killing.
The chairman BSO Muhaiddin Baloch has announced 40-day mourning and three days province shutter down and wheel jam strike.
Meanwhile, the CCPO Ghulam Shabir Sheikh informed media that four teams were constituted to probe into the murder of former Senator and Secretary General of Balochistan National Party.
There were violence and disturbances everywhere in Balochistan. The Trouble started first in Quetta when the BNP workers took the body from Civil Hospital for the Governor's House and the CM Secretariat for a forceful protest.
At the GPO intersection, police stopped the protest procession to enter into the Red Zone where the Civil Secretariat, Governor's House and the CM Secretariat are located. Police used tear gas shells and bombs to disperse the crowd. The enraged protesters retaliated by throwing stones on the police.
Police used disproportionate force compelling the protesters to vacate the Red Zone by heavily shelling and lobbing tear gas shells. Ultimately, the protesters took the body and left towards his residence in form of a huge procession of mourners.
The trouble spread to many parts of Quetta city where the protesters disrupted the vehicular traffic by throwing stones on the passing vehicles, forcing the shops and commercial centres to close their business at least for the day.
Tension gripped the whole city and all the major roads and intersection wore a deserted look compelling the people remain inside their home for the day. Almost all the business centres and commercial establishment closed for want of security as mob was on rampage all around damaging government installation and property.
Most of the traffic intersections and signals were damaged in the violent protest. Police and the powerful Frontier Corps disappeared from the roads, presumably withdrawn by the higher ups in view of level or anger against the Government and its security agencies.
Life remained completely paralyzed in Quetta and there was thin attendance in the Government offices and public transport off the road. Highly enraged protesters took to the streets resorting to bonfires, putting barricades on roads suspending traffic and forcing the shop keepers to close down their business and join the protest. Almost all the major roads were blocked during the day.
The protest spread to other parts of Balochistan simultaneously people, mainly supporters of BNP, taking roads in Mastung, Kalat, Naushki, Khuzdar, Wadh, Nal, Surab, Dera Murad Jamali, Dera Allahyar, Gwadar, Pasni, Ormara, Turbat, Panjgur, Kharan, Dalbandin, Nokkundi and dozens of major human settlements where the BNP had a significant say on the public opinion.
All over Balochistan, protesters resorted to bonfires and put up barricades to disrupt the vehicular traffic. Almost all the major highways linking Balochistan with Sindh from Jacobabad and Khuzdar and road leading to Iran remained closed immediately when the protesters came out on the roads.
In Panjgur, the protesters attacked a Government vehicle and burnt it down. A Telephone cabinet was also set on fire disrupting 500 phone lines in Panjgur. In Khuzdar, the offices of Communication and Works Department, Local Zakat Committee office, offices of some NGOs also came under attack from the protesters.
The BNP announced three days of shutter down and wheel jam strikes followed by mourning for 40 days to condemn assassination of Habib Jalib.
Meanwhile, top political leaders from all over Pakistan, including President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the PNL-N leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif, Jamaat-I-Islami Amir Syed Munawwar Hsssan and his Deputy Liaquat Baloch, Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani. Balochistan PPP President, Senator Lashkari Raisani, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the BNP President and Sardar Ataullah Mengal, the elderly Baloch leaders issued separate statements condemning the assassination of Habib Jalib.
The most significant statements came from Sardar Akhtar Mengal who blamed the Government functionaries for the assassination. He said that the security forces have re-established dubious organizations organizations on the pattern of Al Shams and Al Badar who carried out assassination of Bengalis during the Bangladesh struggle were responsible for the present spree of killing political opponents.
He said that he and his party would not be misled over the claims made by the dubious organizations set up by the Pakistani establishment and holds the Government fully responsible for the killing. Sardar Akhtar Mengal said that his party did not expect good things from the holders of fake degrees.
Sardar Mengal also referred to assassination of Mir Moula Bakhsh Dashti who was targeted and killed by the Government functionaries. Mr. Dashti is an outstanding leader of the National party and was considered the brain of the party in Mekran. He remained Nazim of Kech (Turbat District) for full first term of City Government system of General Pervez Musharraf. He was a seasoned politician and remained in the background as a think tank of the National Party.
Interestingly both the political leaders assassinated were from the lower middle class. They believed in Parliamentary Democracy and Baloch rights within the framework of Pakistani State. They were in service of the poor people helping them at all level.
In case of Habib Jalib, he was hated by the Police and other security forces for his most active role in defending the rights of individuals whenever they are rounded up en masse during the search operations in Quetta localities.
The CCPO Quetta once disclosed that security forces will also resort to target killing if the target killing of others did not stop. Now he is claiming that police offered security to Habib Jalib who refused. Naturally, a populist leader involved in struggle for individual and collective Baloch rights will not take the policemen as guard. He was the most popular leader always leading protest processions, holding rallies, defending innocent people in courts of law, taking to task to the police and other security forces who arrested people in court of law and rubbed them fully.
Thus he was the most hated man by the police for his role. Once, the CCPO claimed that Habib Jalib is responsible for harbouring all the target killers in Quetta. "Whenever we make arrested of people (innocents) he comes to their rescue and seek their immediate release," a top police officials told the newsmen in one of the recent press talks.
It may be mentioned that Habib Jalib was a prominent student leader in his student life. He was office holder of the College Union besides the alliance of students' organizations who fought the military operation during the Bhutto regime. He remained in prison on many occasions when he first challenged the rule of Nawab Akbar Bugti when he joined the Government and left his friends in the defunct NAP. He was first to challenge his brutal rule in Balochistan for which he was arrested. He got a degree from Balochistan University and started practicing law in Quetta. When the Ziaul Haq regime issued his death warrants in 1980s, he fled to Afghanistan and used to teach the students of Baloch refugees in Afghanistan. He later went to the defunct Soviet Union and studied law and wrote a thesis on Baloch national question. He remained there for nine long years.