QUETTA, March 12: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Balochistan chapter, Vice-Chairperson, Malik Zahoor Ahmed Shahwani advocate, has said that information his organization has collected from citizens reveals that most of the people killed in the March 2 Aashura mourning procession massacre were shot dead by members of law-enforcement agencies.

Speaking at news conference in Press Club on Friday, he said that neither the Aashura incident was a sectarian clash nor there is any conflict between Sunnis and Shias in this province as they were living peacefully for decades but the killing was pre-planned by the government agencies to accomplish their hidden agenda.

The HRCP vice-chairperson said that his organization had contacted the people belonging to different schools of thought who had held the law-enforcement agencies responsible for the killing of most of the people who fell pray to firing on the Aashura day mourning procession.

He bitterly criticized security forces for giving miscreants a free hand for four hours on the incident day, who torched shops, cinemas, houses, and vehicles, and maintained that law-enforcement agencies totally failed in protecting the lives and properties of the people in the city.

Mr Shahwani, while referring to the past experience, rejected the perception that holding of inquiries or probing such incidents by commissions would be helpful in creating harmony between disputing groups, adding that inquiry reports relating to incidents of June 8 and July 4, 2003, had been kept in cold storage.

He blasted the foreign policy of the government which he said had caused harbouring of foreign terrorists in Balochistan, who were creating disorder in the country in general and Quetta in particular.

He said successive governments had formulated foreign policies that were protecting interests of foreigners at the cost of the people of the country.

He said Balochistan HRCP had decided to contact the people and officials to ascertain who were behind the bomb blasts and firing of rockets in the city, and maintained that citizens had given their views but the Home Secretary and Inspector-General of Police were reluctant to meet HRCP representatives.

He called upon political and religious parties to come forward to play their role to restore confidence of the people who were deeply depressed and disappointed due to recent incidents, saying that his organization like in the past, would try to organize a seminar inviting all groups to uphold brotherhood and unity.

Statements recorded: The judicial commission investigating the Quetta carnage recorded statements of 20 people on Friday.

Over 300 citizens have registered their names for evidence and during the last four days, 82 persons have recorded their statements before the commission.

The government has asked the commission, headed by Justice Nadir Khan Durrani, to complete its report within 15 days.

Demand: All Pakistan Contractors Association (APCA) has demanded that the government should revise the rates of the contracts according to inflation else all its members would stop the work on the ongoing development projects in Balochistan.

Speaking at a joint news conference held at the press club here on Thursday the provincial representatives of the APCA said that the schedule was prepared in 1994 that was not feasible for them owing to inflation in 2004.

They said that the planning and development department had fixed Rs32,000 for a tonne of steel, whereas the current market rates were Rs62,000. Similarly, the rates of per thousand bricks in other provinces were between Rs900 and Rs1,500, but in Quetta the rate was Rs2,600.

The representatives demanded that the provincial government should impose the contract agreement approved by the Pakistan Engineering Council in Balochistan.

Replying to a question, they said that if the government did not accept their demands they would have no other option but to stop the construction work on the ongoing development projects.

VC appointed: The Balochistan government has appointed Dr Shahida Jafri the first Vice-Chancellor of the Sardar Bahdur Khan Woman University of Balochistan with immediate effect.

According to an official notification issued here on Thursday her appointment would be for a three-year period.

Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had announced establishment of first woman university in Balochistan and handed over the building of Sardar Bahadur Khan Chest Institute to the Balochistan government during his visit to Quetta in January.

He had also announced giving Rs50 million to cover the initial expenditures of the proposed university. It would be formally launched in April this year.

The premises of the chest institute comprising 37 acres of land were given to the provincial government free of cost to promote women's education in Balochistan.