Two Baloch ministers walk out of Balochistan Assembly over Khuzdar killings

The Baloch Hal News

QUETTA: Two provincial ministers walked out of Balochistan Assembly (BA) session on Monday in protest against the killing of two political activists allegedly by the Frontier Corps (FC) in a firing incident on a protest rally in Khuzdar last week.

Minister for irrigation Sardar Aslam Bizenjo and minister for mines and minerals Abdul Rehman Mengal protested on a point of order during the assembly session over the firing incident in Khuzdar district which killed two young political activists and injured four others. Bizenjo said firing on the peaceful protesters was a classic case of terrorism sponsored by the government forces. Previously, Balochs living in Karachi were killed under the patronage of some powerful elements in Sindh and now a similar policy had been undertaken in Khuzdar to butcher the Baloch population.

“The killing of political activists in Khuzdar is a very tragic incident. The government must immediately formulate a judicial inquiry committee into the matter. Families of those who were killed and received injuries should be compensated,” demanded the provincial minister.

He said the government had announced the Balochistan Package to address the grievances of the Baloch people but more violent cases sponsored by the Frontier Corps (FC) were likely to alienate the people and thwart the successful implementation of the Balochistan package.

Referring to the Balochistan package which promised to release all the missing persons, the minister charged that not a single missing persons had been resurfaced by the government yet.

“It is very sad that we are unable to help our own people despite being a part of the provincial government,” he lamented.

Blaming the inspector general of the Frontier Corps, Major General Saleem Nawaz, for the recent firing episode in Khuzdar, provincial minister for mines and minerals Abdul Rehman Mengal said it was hard to establish the writ of the government in Balochistan and normalize the situation as long as the current inspector general of the Frontier Corps continued to serve on his position.

Later on, both the ministers staged a walk out from the house to denounce the killing of political workers in Khuzdar, which has attracted wide-ranging condemnation of the government and massive protests across Balochistan by nationalist forces.

Speaking on the behalf of the provincial government, Mir Asim Kurd Gilo, provincial finance minister, said the government had already ordered an investigation into Khuzdar killings through the ministry of home and tribal affairs. The incident took place at a time when Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani was out of the province. The minister said that the government had also taken responsibility of all medical treatment expenses of the injured people. They would be treated at Agha Khan Hospital in Karachi on official expenses.