NEW YORK, Jan 13: Hundreds of Pakistani-Americans gathered here on Sunday afternoon for an indefinite ‘sit-in’ in front of the Pakistan consulate in New York city in protest against what they called ‘Shia genocide’ and demanded removal of Balochistan government for its failure to protect them and deployment of army to counter terrorist threats. 

A spokesman for New York’s Jaffaria Council, Abid Jaffery, told reporters on telephone the protest would continue until their demands were met by the Pakistan government. “We have brought with us carpets and warm clothes and comforters for the night,” he added.

The protesters at the sit-in were raising slogans of “Labbaik ya Hussain (AS)” and “Labbaik ya Mahdi (AS)”. They condemned the killing of Shias all over Pakistan and denounced the Balochistan government for its failure to protect the community.