September 06, 2008	Saturday	Ramazan 05, 1429

QUETTA, Sept 5: Speakers at a seminar held here on Friday condemned the recent killing of some women in Nasirabad and demanded stern action against tribal elders involved in the crime.

Addressing the seminar organized by the Balochistan Civil Society Forum, intellectuals and rights activists severely criticised some members of parliament from Balochistan who were defending the brutal killing and said such unacceptable ‘customs’ must be scrapped.

They also demanded that the legislators who had defended the brutality should be stripped of their representative status.

They stressed the need for bringing about a change in the attitude of the people and action to stop such incidents.

They expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation that had been conducted so far and demanded that facts related to the killing should be unearthed.

They criticized police and other government institutions for their inaction in such cases. They said the government had failed to provide security to citizens, particularly the vulnerable.

Prominent writer Saima Gul, Maulana Mateen, Shahzada Zulfiqar, Baseer Daavi, Prof Rakhshanda Aurangzeb and other rights activists addressed the seminar.

Later, a large number of women and human rights activists marched from the Balochistan Boy Scouts headquarters to the provincial assembly. They were led by Pakistan People’s Party’s leader Surriya Amiruddin and Rukhsana Ahmed Ali.