LAHORE: Scores of members of the public people, led by the Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen, have occupied The Mall in front of Governor House since late Wednesday in solidarity with the Hazaras of Quetta.

The Shia Ulema Council on Thursday decided to observe Friday a protest day throughout the country against the killing of the Hazara miners and instructed its provincial chapters to take out protest rallies in all major cities.

Secretary-General Allama Arif Wahdi said that in addition to the federal capital, rallies would also be held in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir and protests would continue till the acceptance of their demands.

“Instead of falling prey to expediency, the government should take concrete and practical steps for controlling terrorism in the country,” he said.

President of the council’s south Punjab chapter Syed Sabtain Haider said the rallies would be taken out in all major cities as per instructions of the council president and would continue till the prime minister goes to Quetta and ensures effective anti-terrorist policies.

“Rallies will be taken out after Friday prayers throughout the country,” he said.

On Thursday, dozens of activists of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) joined a protest demonstration at the Liberty Roundabout, where they strongly denounced the barbaric killing of the Hazara colliers in Machh.

Governor Chaudhry Sarwar also joined the protest camp on The Mall and said the government would do justice with the Hazaras. He, however, faced a fierce resistance from the audience who questioned the prime minister’s inability to visit the Hazaras in Quetta.

In the JAC demonstration, a protester questioned why the prime minister had still not gone to visit the Hazaras who were sitting in the middle of an open field.

One woman said these murderers must not be called ‘unknown’ anymore, as it was an open secret to all who they were.

Another participant who was part of the protest said the promises of security by the government were only lip service because it went back to the usual situation later – the usual situation being violence or genocide.

Demonstrators demanded that the government should accept all demands of the protesters without delay whereas immediate action should be taken against the culprits.

The platform for civil society organisations and human rights defenders said the JAC considered this gruesome incident against an ethnic community, which was already a victim of terrorism for several years now, extremely disturbing.

On Wednesday, the Women’s Action Forum also released a statement that expressed solidarity with the victims and their families.

A protest was also held by Progressive Students Collective and the Huqooq-i-Khalq Movement outside the Lahore Press Club where they chanted slogans and held banners.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2021