QUETTA: Nationalist groups would take strong action if Frontier Corps personnel continued to ridicule the Baloch dress code and insult Baloch elders and youths for wearing certain clothes, chief of the National Party Dr Abdul Malik Baloch said here on Friday.

Addressing a press conference, he said that Baloch people were being humiliated for wearing a different type of Shalwar-Kameez which was a serious matter.

He urged provincial government to take action against FC men who were victimising Baloch youths.

He accused the FC of turning Quetta into a war zone and said that the Baloch people faced the wrath of FC personnel whenever any incident occurred even in the city’s suburbs. He said that they had hoped that things would improve with the PPP-led government, but the situation had worsened in Balochistan. Instead of ending military operation and freeing political workers, the government had intensified punitive actions, he added.

He condemned target killings and said it was the responsibility of the government and law-enforcement agencies to arrest the culprits.

Dr Malik said that although he was not prepared to to mediate between the government and militants, he would fully back talks to resolve the Balochistan issue.