Quetta sit-in: COAS meets Hazara notables, says DG ISPR

QUETTA: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday met notables of the Hazara community in Quetta, said the Inter-Services Public Relations Major General Asif Ghafoor.

Director General of ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Commander Southern Command Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, and Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti were part of the meeting.

On Monday night, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal visited a protest camp set up outside the Balochistan Assembly. He had held talks with provincial minister Syed Agha Raza who was leading the protest against unabated killings of members of the Hazara community. The protesters, however, had refused to end their protest until the army chief visited them.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa will receive an update on the security situation in the city, said the military’s media wing.

Interior Minister Iqbal had expressed solidarity with the protesters over the killing of two Hazara men by terrorists.

“In last five years, the situation has much improved with killings dropping from 215 in 2014 to 8. Our efforts will continue to bring it to zero,” he wrote on social media.

A protest by Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen continued for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. Along with the sit-in outside the assembly, a hunger strike was also being staged by Hazara community women outside the Quetta Press Club. Social activist Advocate Jalila Haider was leading the strike.

The protesters demand an immediate end to the targeting of Hazara community members and arrest of culprits involved in the heinous acts.