Quetta comes to standstill as JUI-F demands justice

QUETTA: A shutter-down strike was observed in Quetta on Wednesday as the Balochistan chapter of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) pressed a broad set of demands, including the arrest of those responsible for the killing of Maulana Muhammad Idrees and other slain religious scholars, the reopening of sealed seminaries, and the withdrawal of the Mines and Minerals Bill.

Speaking at a protest gathering at Manan Chowk, JUI-F Balochistan chief Senator Maulana Abdul Wasay, along with district leaders Maulana Abdul Rehman Rafiq, Maulana Salahuddin Ayubi, Mufti Muhammad Rozi Khan and others, said the party’s planned Quetta March on May 10 would mark a decisive moment in what they described as a struggle for the rights of religious seminaries.

The party leaders thanked residents and the business community in Quetta for supporting the strike, saying the shutdown had been successful. They said people across Balochistan had backed the party’s call and described the province’s public support as a shield for madaris.

According to the speakers, seminaries are the guardians of Pakistan’s ideological frontiers, and they said no move against them would be accepted.

Resolutions adopted at rally

Separate resolutions passed during the protest condemned the killing of central party leader Maulana Muhammad Idrees and called for immediate justice for all religious scholars who have been slain. The gathering also rejected what it termed coercive or unilateral legislation concerning religious seminaries and said the party would continue its campaign through constitutional and democratic means.

The forum further demanded an immediate end to raids on madaris across Balochistan and called for all sealed institutions to be reopened without delay.

Economic and law and order concerns

JUI-F leaders also criticised what they described as the economic exploitation of traders under the pretext of lockdowns, and demanded that the policy be ended immediately. In addition, the rally voiced concern over what it called growing anarchy and lawlessness in Quetta, as well as obscenity and rising inflation in the provincial capital.

Among the demands highlighted by the provincial leadership was the withdrawal of the contentious Mines and Minerals Bill. The protest reflected the party’s wider opposition to measures it says are being imposed on seminaries and traders in the province.

The Quetta March announced for May 10 was presented by the party leadership as the next major step in its campaign, with speakers saying it would be a turning point in the movement linked to the rights of religious seminaries.