Quetta: Senior Baloch National Party leader Ataullah Khan Bugti has said that all links between Balochistan and the rest of Pakistan will remain cut off till the Islamabad military authorities do not hand over the body of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.
"We are not convinced that Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti is dead. It is up to the military authorities to convince us by showing us his body, that Bugti saheb is no longer alive," said Mengal.
"It is our belief that he is being held somewhere and President Musharraf is not coming out clearly on the issue," Mengal added.
As Mengal spoke, Balochistan capital Quetta and other parts of the tribal-dominated province, continued to remain in a state of instability, with rampaging mobs attacking public and private buildings, and damaging properties and other goods inside.
The main RCD Highway linking Quetta to Karachi and other parts of Pakistan, was completely blocked with huge boulders.
All train traffic and movement along railway lines have been suspended indefinitely. There were reports that some of the railway tracks had been blown up.
On Thursday morning, two bogies of a standing train at Sibbi were set afire. Militants blew up a railway line on Wednesday.
Baloch-dominated areas of Balochistan continue remain tense. The Four Parties’ Baloch Alliance has ensured that routine life is brought to a standstill across the province, including Quetta.
The Quetta-Taftan International Highway was blocked at Naushki, Dalbadin, Chaghi and Taftan. Angry protesters barricaded the Quetta-Karachi National Highway at Lakh Pass, Mastung, Qalat, Khuzdar, Wadh and some other areas.
Most of the business centres, markets and shops remain closed, particularly in the ethnic Baloch majority areas.
There was no transaction in the banks, while attendance in government offices, particularly those located on Sariab Road, was also thin. Besides, all the educational institutions, including the University of Balochistan, continue to remain closed.
Activists of nationalist parties continue to take out rallies and burn tyres in the industrial city of Hub, which serves as the link to Karachi with Balochistan.
On Wednesday Nawab Akbar Bugti’s son, Jamil Bugti, warned that the violence that has gripped the province since the death will continue until his father’s body is returned.
Jamil criticised the government’s conflicting statements and demanded the return of his father’s body.
“Every day they are coming out with another explanation and it is all a pack of lies,” he said while greeting people expressing their condolences at Bugti’s home in Quetta.
Comments
0 comment