Party supporters assembled outside the Quetta Press Club, brandishing party flags, signs, and banners displaying their demands and expressing concerns about the Wadh situation. Earlier, they marched along various streets in Quetta.
Leading the protest march were BNP-M’s Secretary General, Waja Jahanzeb Baloch, along with former federal minister Agha Hassan Baloch, Ghulam Nabi Marri, and other leaders. The participants criticised the government and the local administration in Khuzdar.
While addressing the rallies, leaders expressed concerns over the Wadh situation. They held the government responsible for failing to respond to the actions of the armed forces, which had led to the displacement of families. The leaders claimed the government was planning an operation in Wadh similar to Dera Bugti.
BNP-M leaders further alleged that from the outset, Balochistan has been subjected to the influence of death squads, leading to heightened tensions. They announced that a shutter-down strike is scheduled for Sept 30, and a wheel-jam strike will take place on Oct 7 in the province.
The rallies were also held in Khuzdar, Kalat, Noshki, Lasbela, Sibi, Dera Murad Jamali, Panjgur, Turbat, Kohlu and Loralai.
Meanwhile, BNP leaders Abdul Rauf Mengal and Shafiqur Rehman Sasoli, while addressing a press conference in Khuzdar regretted that the issue of Balochistan has always been addressed through the use of force instead of negotiations.
Last week a leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), Arbab Ghulam Muhammad Kasi was murdered , whose body was found in the Kuchlak area on Tuesday.
“The FIR was registered with the Kuchlak police station on the complaint of a police officer after receiving a post-mortem report of a police surgeon who said the ANP leader was murdered by unknown people,” officials said.
The body of the ANP leader was kept in Quetta Civil Hospital last night and police surgeon Dr Ayesha Faiz declared in her report after post-mortem that it was not a suicide.
“The ANP leader was shot dead and the bullet hit left side of the head close to ear which caused his death,” she said in her initial post-mortem report, adding that according to family members, Arbab Ghulam Kasi was right-hander, while the bullet hit the ANP leader from the left side of the head and crossed to the other side.
“Yes, we have registered an FIR of the murder of Arbab Kasi against unknown people as the family has not nominated anyone and the FIR has been registered on the complaint of the SHO of the Kuchlak Police Station,” a senior police officer told Dawn.
He said the police surgeon had already declared the incident a murder after autopsy. Police have collected evidence from the crime scene and are investigating the incident.
Earlier, police had said that the deceased might have committed suicide as a pistol was found along with the body. A police official said the pistol would be sent for forensic examination.
Meanwhile, the ANP leader was buried in a family graveyard in the presence of thousands of party leaders, workers, and other people. His funeral prayer was offered at the main football ground of Kuchlak and attended by party leaders and other people.
Earlier, provincial president of the ANP, Muhammad Asghar Achakzai, had refused to bury the body of the party leader until the arrest of those involved in the murder of Mr Kasi.
However, later police and the authorities concerned assured the ANP leaders that all efforts would be made to arrest those involved in the murder and a judicial inquiry would be conducted into the matter.
