QUETTA: Amid tight security and moving scenes, Nawabzada Siraj Raisani, an election candidate of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), and 129 other victims of Friday’s terrorist attack in Mastung were laid to rest in their hometowns and villages on Saturday as the federal government announced that national mourning day would be observed on Sunday (today).

Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa specially arrived in Quetta to attend funeral prayers for Siraj Raisani. He paid tribute to the late leader saying he was a brave and intelligent politician.

The funeral prayers for Siraj Raisani were offered in Musa Stadium in Quetta Cantonment and attended by, among others, Balochistan Governor Mohammad Khan Achakzai, caretaker Chief Minister Allauddin Marri, Commander of Southern Command Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, former chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani and former senator Haji Lashkari Raisani, both Siraj Raisani’s brothers, BAP President Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, the provincial ministers and senior civil and military officials.

Gen Bajwa attends BAP leader’s funeral prayers; national mourning day today

Then the coffin of Siraj Raisani was taken to his native town Kanak by helicopter where he was laid to rest in the Martyrs’ Graveyard in the presence of thousands of people. A pall of gloom hung over the crowd as several Raisani tribesmen and other people broke into tears.

The grave of Siraj Raisani was prepared next to those of his father Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani and son Hakmal Raisani. Ghous Bukhsh was killed in an armed attack by his opponents in the 1980s. Hakmal Raisani was killed in a terrorist attack in Mastung in 2011.

Emotional scenes were also witnessed in other graveyards in Daring-Gar, Kanak, Mastung, Magochar, Khad Kocha, Dasht and other areas where 128 victims of the Mastung terror attack were laid to rest.

A majority of the suicide bombing victims belonged to the Parkani tribe. “As many as 104 people who lost their lives in the attack belonged to the Parkani tribe,” said Agha Hasan Baloch, a leader of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal.

Meanwhile a first information report of the attack was registered at the Levies Force station in Mastung on behalf of the state on the complaint of a Levies official.

The chief minister has announced a compensation package for the victims of the Mastung tragedy and told a press conference that the cabinet had approved Rs1.5 million for the heirs of each deceased, Rs500,000 for each critically injured person and Rs200,000 for each person who has received minor injuries.

Almost all political parties have announced that they have suspended their election campaigns in Balochistan to mourn the death of the victims of the terrorist attacks.

Mourning day announced

In Islamabad, an announcement from the Prime Minister’s Office said, “in view of tragic incidents of terrorist attacks at Peshawar on July 10 and in Mastung and Bannu on July 13, 2018, the federal government has announced to observe one day official mourning throughout the country” on Sunday. The national flag will fly at half mast to mourn the deaths of over 130 people in the three terrorist attacks ahead of the July 25 general elections.

The country has been in the grip of renewed attacks from terrorists who have targeted three election candidates in the past five days.

The first major incident took place on July 10 when Awami National Party (ANP) candidate from PK-78 Peshawar Haroon Bilour and 19 others were killed in an attack targeting the party’s election meeting. The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, which had also claimed responsibility for the killing of Mr Haroon’s father Bashir Bilour in 2012, said it carried out the attack.

Two terrorist attacks took place on Friday. In the first incident, the convoy of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal candidate from NA-35 Bannu Akram Khan Durrani came under attack. He luckily survived the attack, but four others were killed.

Later in the afternoon, a powerful bomb blast targeted a meeting of Balochistan Awami Party candidate from Mastung (PB-35) Nawabzada Siraj Raisani, killing him with 127 others.

The Mastung attack was the deadliest terror attack in the country since the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, in 2014.

Prior to the attacks, during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, officials of the National Counter Terrorism Authority had named six

politicians, including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan. The name of Akram Durrani was also included in the list.

The terrorist attacks on election rallies and meetings have created a sense of insecurity among the politicians who are demanding that the Election Commission of Pakistan and the caretaker governments provide them security so that they can run their election campaigns in a peaceful atmosphere.

Amir Wasim from Islamabad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2018