Story Highlights
Quetta bleeds
Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan province witnessed one of the deadliest terrorist attacks this week that claimed more than 70 lives. A suicide bomber struck a crowd of some 200 people, mostly lawyers, gathered outside Quetta’s Civil Hospital’s Emergency Ward after the killing of a senior local lawyer earlier in the day. According to police the bomber had strapped eight kilogrammes of explosives packed with ball bearings and shrapnel on his body. The crowd had gone to the hospital after the death of the president of the Balochistan Bar Association, Bilal Anwar Kasi. Two unidentified gunmen targeted Bilal Kasi as he left his home for work. A faction of the Taliban, Jamaatul Ahrar, has claimed responsibility for the blast, with a spokesman vowing more attacks “until the imposition of an Islamic system in Pakistan”.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the bombing and said the war on terror would be taken to its logical end at any cost. He also said that the enemy wants to strike at a time when Pakistan is witnessing economic development in the form of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif also directed the corps commanders and intelligence outfits to further intensify the combing and targeted operations with the aim to eliminate terrorists.
Meanwhile the political and military leadership has agreed to set up a task force to review the pace of implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP). A meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the chair decided that the task force will consist of representatives of the federal and provincial governments and heads of security agencies.
National Politics
The opposition, mainly Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) are preparing to begin rallies in major cities of Pakistan against the government. PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that his party would mobilise the masses to protect their rights if the national institutions fail to do so.
The PTI chairman said the PTI would continue to mobilise the people to protest rallies as well as sit-ins until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is held accountable. He said the accountability movement had been launched to hold the institutions accountable that considered themselves above accountability. Although Pakistan People’s Party is not participating in the rallies but its Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari wished luck to the accountability movement of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and said that protest was a democratic right.
Meanwhile police has claimed to have arrested five Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers allegedly involved in the May 12, 2007 bloodshed in the Sindh capital. Police also claimed that weapons used in the May 12 violence were seized from them. Several political workers and lawyers were killed in Karachi when the then deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry visited the port city on May 12, 2007.
Meanwhile the Prevention of Electronic Crime Bill 2015 was passed in the national assembly with a majority vote this week. The law envisages 14-year imprisonment and a Rs 5 million fine for cyber terrorism, seven-year imprisonment each for campaigning against innocent people on the internet, spreading hate material on the basis of ethnicity, religion, and sect, or taking part in child pornography. However the bill has been criticised by the civil society members and rights groups for putting curbs on freedom of expression.
Foreign Affairs
Pakistan continues to reach out to international community to help Kashmiris practicing their right to self- determination and an end to Indian atrocities in the valley. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has written letters to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, urging them to play their role to end rights violations in Indian-Held Kashmir.
Sharif urged them to implement the UNSC resolutions, which provided for the right to self-determination for the people of Indian-Held Kashmir. Meanwhile Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called for an end to the violence in Held Kashmir, promising jobs for young Kashmiri people, in his first comments since the deadly clashes began over a month ago. Much of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) has been under a curfew since protests broke out over the murder of a popular young rebel leader at the hands of Indian forces. The prime minister has faced criticism for failing to speak out about the unrest, which has abated but shows no signs of ending.
Meanwhile over the news of ban on holding Pakistani currency in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar said there was no such ban in Afghanistan. The clarification came from Mr Dar after a telephonic conversation with Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal.
An official statement of the finance ministry said that Mr Zakhilwal confirmed there was no ban on holding the Pakistani currency in Afghanistan and that it was freely convertible. Mr Dar appreciated the clarification issued by the Afghan ambassador and expressed the hope that it would facilitate the business activity between the two countries.
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