SKARDU: Scores of protestors Thursday took to the streets to demonstrate against the outbreak of sectarian lawlessness in the region as well as the cold-blooded, execution-style killing of 13 bus passengers at Chilas earlier in the week.
Section 144 has been imposed in Skardu as protests and shutterdown strike across Gilgit-Baltistan continued into the third consecutive day, with angry residents burning tyres and blocking roads.
Alama Sheikh Muhammad Husan Jaffari led the procession and appealed to the public to remain peaceful and calm during the protest. Thousands of people staged a sit-in demonstration against the provincial government in Gamba, a suburban area of Skardu, while mobile phone cervices remained suspended. Tension prevailed in other adjoining areas as sporadic firing punctuated the calm.
According to details, curfew has been imposed in the area while police and military forces patrol the otherwise deserted roads of the city. Meanwhile, it has been learnt that local residents are facing severe food and water shortages, as the food supply has been suspended in the city for the past four days owing to continuing unrest and turmoil.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), meanwhile, has expressed its serious alarm at the continuing loss of life in sectarian strife across Gilgit Baltistan and has demanded that the government, political parties and civil society organisations all join hands to bring peace to the area at the earliest.
In a statement issued Thursday the commission said, “HRCP has watched with growing concern the reprehensible and lengthening shadow of sectarian bloodshed in Gilgit Baltistan and condemns it unequivocally.
“The relative calm in Gilgit following the imposition of curfew and deployment of troops is a tense one, and retaliatory attacks and incidents of hostage taking have been reported amid concerns that the authorities have responded only to some of the more violent incidents and are proceeding in a reactive manner. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-101481-Sectarian-violence-leads-to-frenzied-agitation-in-Skardu
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