May 29, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 12, 1428

QUETTA, May 28: The Balochistan Punjabi Ittehad (BPI) warned on Monday that bombs hurled at the houses of settlers in Quetta and other areas would have serious repercussions for the province.

Condemning the Sunday night incident when an explosive device was thrown at Dr Aziz Qureshi’s house, the Ittehad leader, the party supporters at a demonstration said that the province’s Punjabi residents should not be punished for wrongs perpetrated by the government, the army or the Punjab.

Chanting slogans against terrorism and demanding protection, the protesters marched from Dr Qureshi’s residence to the press club. Participants included Dr Qureshi, Khalid Awan and Mohammad Sabir of the BPI, Shafique Ahmed Khan, PPP-P deputy parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly, Nizam Khan of the PML-N and union council nazim Saleem Butt.

Asserting that the province’s Punjabi residents had always supported the struggle of Baloch and Pakhtun political groups, speakers regretted that despite having lived in Balochistan for generations, they were not recognised as locals.

They complained that for the past few months, houses of settlers had been targeted by terrorists. BPI leaders stressed that such cowardly attacks could not force settlers to leave Balochistan and said that their families had lived in the area before partition.

They warned that if the situation did not improve, they would have no option but to retaliate in self-defence.

Nizam Khan pointed out that despite being an ethnic Pukhtun, he had pledged allegiance to Nawaz Sharif and the Pakhtun community would support the settlers from Punjab.

Meanwhile, Saleem Butt said that Punjabi settlers had been forced to form the Ittehad to fight against oppression and injustice, much as Karachi’s Mohajir community was forced to establish the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.