QUETTA: A strike was observed across Balochistan on Sunday in protest against the killing of Maulana Mohammad Hanif Achakzai, a leader of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), in a motorcycle bomb blast in the border town of Chaman on Saturday.

Maulana Hanif, who was JUI-F’s deputy secretary general, was laid to rest in his native Millatabad area on the outskirts of the border town on Sunday.

A large number of people, including leaders and workers of various political parties, attended the funeral prayers for the slain leader.

Hundreds of JUI-F workers and supporters reached Chaman from different towns and cities of Balochistan to attend the funeral.

Prominent among those who attended the funeral were emir of JUI-F Balochistan MNA Maulana Abdul Wasay, provincial president of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Senator Usman Khan Kakar, PkMAP leader and former minister Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, president of Awami National Party’s Balochistan chapter MPA Asghar Khan Achakzai, senior lawyer Kamran Murtaza, Commandant of Frontier Corps Chaman Colonel Khurram Javed, Deputy Commissioner Bashir Ahmed Barrech and DPO Shoukat Momand.

The call for the strike was given by the JUI-F’s central leadership.

In Quetta all trade and business activities remained suspended throughout the day and the traffic on roads was also very thin.

The strike was observed also in Chaman, Pishin, Loralai, Zhob, Qila Abdullah, Qila Saifullah, Harnai, Ziarat, Khuzdar, Kalat, Mastung, Dera Murad Jamali, Usta Mohammad, Sibi, Dera Allah Yar, Nushki, Panjgur, Turbat, Gwadar, Pasni and Hub. Business and trade activities in these towns and cities remained suspended throughout the day.

In Quetta, workers and supporters of JUI-F took out a procession in protest against the killing of their leader. Carrying banners and placards, the protesters marched on different roads of the city and chanted slogans, demanding arrest of elements involved in the Saturday’s blast.

The marchers later gathered outside the Quetta Press Club where they were addressed by JUI-F leaders, including Abdul Rehman Rafiq, Mufti Rozi Khan, Maulana Abdul Sadiq and others.

The speakers condemned the killing of Maulana Hanif and said the country had lost a political leader and religious scholar. They said that the JUI-F history was full of martyrdoms, adding that the party’s leaders and workers had never hesitated in rendering sacrifices for its struggle.

They said Maulana Fazlur Rehman and other leaders of JUI-F had escape many attacks, but they never compromised on their principles and continued their struggle for the establishment of Islamic system in the country, democracy and rights of people.

They said the JUI-F would hold a protest against the government in Islamabad.

Protest rallies were also held in other towns and cities of Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2019