QUETTA, May 28: Baloch nationalist parties and student organisations observed a ‘black day’ on Wednesday on the 10th anniversary of Pakistan’s first nuclear tests.
Rallies against N-tests were held in Quetta, Khuzdar, Mastung, Dalbandin, Chagai, Kalat, Gwadar and other towns of Balochistan.
In Quetta, processions were taken out by the Baloch Students Organisation, BNF and Anjuman Ittehad Marri.
People in the procession carried banners and placards inscribed with anti-nuclear slogans. A large number of women and children took part in the processions.
A gathering held at the Manan Chowk was addressed by Salam Sabir, Nasar Baloch, Hakim Pervez Baloch, Shahzain Baloch and Ms Salma Baloch, who condemned the use of Balochistan’s land for nuclear tests and described it “rubbing salt on the wounds of the Baloch people”.
They claimed that radiation emitted by the blasts had affected health of many people in the Chagai area and the government did nothing to provide medical treatment to such people.
They said on the one hand the government wanted reconciliation with the Baloch people, but on the other it continued the military operation in the province. Hundreds of people, including political workers and leaders were still missing or in jails, they said, adding that BNF president Ghulam Mohammad Baloch and Wahab Baloch had been taken into custody by intelligence agencies in Karachi.
They said the Baloch people had nothing to do with the reconciliation efforts and they would not compromise on their rights and would continue their struggle.
The speakers urged Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani to stop the handing over of a political activist, Ghulam haider Raisani, to Iran.
The activists of the Baloch Students Organisation took out a procession from the Science College and later gathered outside the Quetta Press Club.
Addressing the protesters, BSO chairman Mohyuddin Baloch, vice-chairman Changaiz Baloch, Javed Baloch and Ataullah Baloch described the nuclear blasts as an “act against humanity”.
They urged the United Nations and other international organisations to send medical teams for providing treatment to the people affected by radiation in the Chagai area.