Pakistan Shi'ites bury blast victims
2013-01-14 14:59
Quette - Embattled Shi'ite Muslims on Monday buried
victims of the deadliest single attack on their community in Pakistan, ending a
four-day protest to demand protection after the provincial government was
sacked.
Men, women and children spent four nights camped in
freezing conditions, refusing to bury the victims of a twin suicide bombing
that killed 92 people in a Shi'ite area of the south-western city of Quetta
last Thursday.
In other cities across Pakistan, solidarity protests were
held by hundreds of other Shi’ites, who account for 20% of the population and
according to Human Rights Watch suffered record levels of violence last year.
Extreme Sunni Muslim group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, claimed
responsibility for Thursday's bombing at a snooker hall in the capital of
Baluchistan province, which wounded more than 120 people.
Thousands of Shi’ites from the ethnic Hazara community
gathered for the mass burial in the afternoon of more than 60 of the dead, an
AFP photographer said.
Families wept and cried, with many beating their chests
and heads in mourning as the coffins were brought to the graveyard in Quetta,
guarded by hundreds of police and paramilitary soldiers along with Shiite
volunteers.
Thousands of Hazara protesters had staged their sit-in
outside the bombed building to demand that the army take over in Baluchistan,
which also suffers from a nine-year separatist insurgency and Islamist
militancy.
Government criticised
The provincial government was widely criticised for
failing to control the myriad security problems and the chief minister, Aslam
Raisani, was rapped for making a trip to London while security worsened.
Hazaras were initially divided over whether the
government had gone far enough to meet their demands by nominating the
governor, who is appointed by the national president, to take over the
province.
But by 11:00, families started leaving to prepare their
dead for burial.
Leaders had said overnight they would not call off their
protest until they saw official notification of the orders from Prime Minister
Raja Pervez Ashraf.
Ashraf flew to Quetta on Sunday to meet the protesters.
He announced live on television in the middle of the night
that the provincial government would be sacked and the governor would take
over.
He said Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi could call the army
at "any time for assistance" and the top commander in Baluchistan
would "directly" supervise paramilitary forces who have the power to
arrest and investigate anyone.
"We are determined to defeat this mindset,"
Ashraf was quoted as saying by state media, referring to those he accused of
trying to divide Shiites and Sunnis.
"I have great respect for the sacrifice, tolerance
and peaceful behaviour of the Hazara community. You are an asset of
Pakistan," he added.
Protests
Refusing to bury the dead is an extreme protest in
Islamic society, where the deceased are normally buried the same or next day.
In Karachi, Pakistan's financial capital, authorities
announced that they had suspended cellphone services "for a few hours
because of security reasons" on Monday.
More than 1 000 people had gathered near President Asif
Ali Zardari's house in the upmarket neighbourhood of Clifton on Saturday in
solidarity with the Hazaras.
Hundreds of them remained there until Monday morning.
"We are leaving now, as our demands have been
accepted and our brothers in Quetta have asked us to end our protest,"
said participant Shaukat Ali.
