Brutalities against Baloch and Pashtun students an ‘act of terrorism’: Balochistan Political Parties

QUETTA: A united front of the political parties had strongly condemned the brutalities on the Baloch and Pakhtun students at the Punjab University Campus saying that the religiously fanatic forces or trying to revive the Pakistan history of the 1970s when Bengalis were subjected to hostilities.

The group of political parties and student organizations held a joint news conference at the Quetta Press Club which was addressed by Haji Lashkari Raisani, a senior BNP leader and ex-Minister and Senator and others

They strongly condemned the police brutalities on under custody students who were beaten up mercilessly and denied food and medical care for the past four long days.

The enforced disappearances, arrest an extra-judicial tactics against the arrested and kidnapped students are condemnable act sending a dangerous message to the people of this extremely backward and poor province of Balochistan.

The militant religious organization had learnt no lesson from the 1970 events when Pakistan was disintegrated, they said.

Such incidents are repeated off and on by the Jami Jamiat Tulaba attacking the Baloch and Pakhtun students on one pretext or the other. They were of the unanimous opinion that a specific mindset is working to deny education to the youth and usurped the rich resources of Balochistan by keeping the area backward.

They claimed that some of the students were taken to private torture cells or private safe houses where they are subjected to brutal torture. They are not kept at the lawfully designated places of Police lockups or the in jails.

They said that they had formed a team of senior lawyers to defend the students’ taken hostage by the police and Asma Jehangir had facilitated the lawyers to use her office for defending the innocent students.

The senior lawyers were assigned the task to seek their immediate release and provide them medical treatment and send them back to their respective educational institutions.

The political forces in Balochistan considered it as an act of terrorism against the innocent and law-abiding Baloch and Pakhtun students and call upon the Punjab Government to withdraw all concocted cases and release them. It is also the duty of the Punjab Government to rehabilitate all the students so that they should continue their disrupted studies.

A score of leaders belonging to those political parties and student and other organisations were present at the news conference and they interacted with the newsmen on the sensitive issue.

Sources: Balochistan Express