QUETTA(National Times)- The Balochistan government and representatives of a multi-party alliance claimed to have reached an agreement with the families of policemen martyred in a deadly attack in Ziarat, late on Friday night.
During the day, a shutter-down strike was observed across Balochistan, with shops and markets closed and all business activities remaining suspended, in solidarity with the families of the policemen, who had been holding a sit-in at Quetta’s Koyila Phatak for nine straight days, along with the martyrs’ bodies.
Traders’ organisations, including the Central Anjuman-i-Tajran Balochistan, and all opposition parties had supported the strike call.
In a statement, the traders’ body said markets remained closed in Quetta, Kuchlak, Pishin, Saranan, Khanozai, Muslim Bagh, Qila Saifullah, Zhob, Sherani, Loralai, Musa Khel, Barkhan, Duki, Sanjavi, Ziarat, Harnai, Sibi, Chaman and several other districts.
All shops, markets, shopping malls and business establishments remained closed in district headquarters of the province, affecting normal life as most vehicles stayed off the roads and people preferred to remain at home.
The body warned that if the government failed to meet the protesters’ demands, arrest those responsible for the attacks and restore security, traders would continue supporting peaceful protests and could launch stronger demonstrations, holding both the federal and provincial governments responsible for any consequences.
As per latest reports, leaders of the multi-party alliance were speaking to participants of the sit-in at the time of going to press.
Abdul Wadood, one of the organisers of the protest, confirmed to Dawn that ambulances had reached the site to shift the bodies of the seven martyred policemen, and that the sit-in would end shortly.
‘Successful talks’
The late-night agreement between the government and the demonstrators — represented by a multi-party alliance — was signed by Home Minister Ziaullah Langove, while PkMAP secretary general Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal signed on behalf of the protesting families.
CM’s Aide Shahid Hameed Rind told Dawn the two sides had agreed that a judicial commission will be constituted to probe the tragic incidents that took place in Hanna Urak and the Mangi dam area of Ziarat.
Further details of the agreement between the two sides are expected to be released in the coming days.
Last week, a sit-in staged by the families of five tribesmen, killed in the Hanna Urak attack, had called off their protest on Airport Road after 11 of their abducted comrades returned safely.
However, the families of policemen martyred in the attack near Mangi dam had continued their protest.
Earlier, Mr Langove and provincial Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar had engaged with the protesters and members of the multi-party alliance in a bid to get the protesters to call off their sit-in alongside the bodies of their martyrs.
Meanwhile, Balochistan Food Minister Noor Muhammad Dummar, who was elected from Ziarat in the last election, urged families of the victims participating in the protest to form a committee comprising only the heirs of the martyrs to facilitate meaningful negotiations with the government.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Dummar appealed to the families of slain police personnel to proceed with the burial of their loved ones.
He said the government’s negotiations with victims of the Hanna Urak attack had been successful but claimed that talks with the Ziarat Dharna Committee remained inconclusive because representatives of political parties, rather than affected families, had become part of the committee.
