Thousand Pakistanis protest against "Killing of Shias"

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - “Nearly 600 people have been killed and more than 3000 innocent people have been injured for the last 10 years while in a recent few months 360 more people belonging to Hazara Ethnicity (Shia Muslims) have been targeted,” Said Syed Nasir Ali Khan MNA (PPP) from Quetta.

Thousands of Pakistanis were protesting in front parliament on Friday and were demanding the government to stop conspiracy of target killing of the innocent people of Shia Muslims (Hazara)  living in Quetta and also called the provincial government a ‘disqualified one’ and condemned the sectarian violence.

The target killing which has been reportedly continuous for the last 10 years in which more than 550 people have been killed including an Olympian and social activists as well.

Demonstrators have held a protest rally in the capital of Pakistan to condemn the sectarian violence which has targeted Shia Muslims in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

Last week, at least thirteen Shia Muslims were martyred and several others injured when gunmen opened fire on a group of people waiting for transportation in Balochistan.

According to the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, a total of 737 terrorist attacks were carried out in the Pakistani province in 2010.

Nasir Shah, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said the United States is behind the unrest in Balochistan.

“The US wants to take control of the natural resources of the province by creating instability,” he further explained.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has called for a meeting of associated officials next week in Islamabad to discuss the issue.

After making repeated requests to the government for doing the needful to stop ongoing violence and target killing in which both the Balochistan government and Frontier Cops (FC) have failed, Shia youth decided to come to the capital where they chanted slogans against the government and FC that why they have failed to control the deteriorating law and order situation in the country.

They said during the demonstration that the foreign hands are involved in this ruthless killing of the innocent people.

Syed Nasir Ali Khan said, “I have been attacked for many times in the province but luckily I barely escaped the attack and after that I asked the government to do something realistic and pragmatic to control the deteriorating law and order situation in the province otherwise the whole province would be engulfed by the massacre but still the same practice is being repeated.

The people of Hazara and also Shia communities are being targeted severely.”

“Shia communities are being targeted because they are Shia. There is no sectarian issue over here no between Shia and Sunni but the foreign hands are involved in this that is creating the notion that there is sectarian violence.” He added.

He said that today whatever happens in Pakistan is the agenda of the brutal dictator Zia-ul-haq who brought Americans and supported them as well. After the Soviet war this idea of killing of innocent people started.

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