QUETTA: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) held protest rallies across Balochistan on Sunday against the recent suicide bomb attack on Senate Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri in Mastung, which claimed 27 lives.

Member of National Assem­­bly Maulana Amir Zaman, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed Sharodi and other leaders led a march in Quetta. The party’s leaders and supporters, carrying placards and banners ins­ribed with their demands, marched on various roads and streets of the provincial capital.

They shouted slogans against the government and elements involved in the suicide bombing. They continued the protest despite rain and later gathered in front of the press club.

Speaking to the protesters, the JUI-F leaders condemned the Mastung attack and said that the elements involved in it had targeted Maulana Haideri because he and his party believed in democracy and struggling to make Pakistan an Islamic state.

They also criticised the government, saying it had failed to provide adequate security to the secretary general of the party. They said the killers of the innocent workers and leaders would be brought to justice.

They said the party would not bow before terrorists and would continue its struggle for it goals. Urging the workers and supporters to remain peaceful, they said the JUI-F was a peaceful party, which had never believed in violence.

The JUI-F leaders de­­manded that the government take all possible steps for arresting and exposing the elements behind the attack.

Protest rallies were also held in Zhob, Khuzdar, Pishin, Loralai, Kalat, Mas­ung, Dera Murad Jamali, Sibi, Nushki, Dera Allahyar, Dhadar and other towns. Shops, markets and business centres also remained closed in many towns on the call of the party.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2017