Pakistan mourns Mastung victims

A youth injured in Friday’s blast is cared for by a relative at a hospital in Quetta. (AFP)

• 131 people brought to the three health facilities of the city had either died on their way to hospitals or during their treatment
• The situation suits the Baloch separatists, and it almost looks like the repeat of the 2013 elections

QUETTA: Pakistan mourned on Sunday the victims of recent terror attacks in the country. Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk announced Sunday as a mourning day across the country to pay respect to lives lost in the Bannu and Mastung attacks.
The Balochistan government also announced two-day mourning in the province following Mastung deadly attack.
Meanwhile, the funeral prayers on Nawab Siraj Raisani was offered in Quetta’s General Musa Stadium on Saturday, attended by several senior political and military leaders.
Raisani, who was running for the provincial assembly on the Balochistan Awami Party’s ticket, was killed, along with at least 127 others, in a suicide attack that targeted his election meeting in the town of Mastung on Friday.
The funeral was delayed to ensure the attendance of family members traveling there from abroad. Speaking to the media in Quetta, the slain BAP leader’s brother, Nawab Lashkari Raisani, demanded a truth and reconciliation commission. “All decisions and policies of the state, starting from General Ziaul Haq’s time, should be probed by the commission,” he said, adding that those who made these policies should be held accountable.
Death toll
About 131 people were killed and more than 150 injured in Friday’s Mastung blast, a health official told Arab News on Saturday.
However, residents of the area where the incident took place say many of those who died on the spot were not even mentioned in the official figures since they were not picked up by rescue workers.
Dr. Waseem Baig, a spokesperson of Civil Hospital Quetta, said that 131 people brought to the three health facilities of the city had either died on their way to hospitals or during their treatment.
“Presently, we have 77 wounded individuals and two of them are in a critical state,” he said.
However, locals contradict the reported figures. Ataullah Baloch, a Mastung-based journalist who reached the site a few minutes after the explosion, claimed the death toll was much higher than reported.
“Since there was a limited number of ambulances, rescue workers only picked up the wounded. Official figures only include those who succumbed to their injuries on their way to hospitals or during their treatment at different health facilities,” said Baloch, adding that all those who died on the spot were taken by their families directly.
Jibran Nasir, a social activist and candidate from NA-247, who flew to Quetta to assess the situation, said there were families who lost up to 12 members in the blast.
“The government should take care of those who need better treatment. It should also provide compensation to the poor since they had gathered to participate in the democratic process,” he added.
Election prospects
“This is a major conspiracy, not just against Balochistan Awami Party but also the whole country,” Saeed Hashmi, central leader of Siraj Raisani’s party, told Arab News.
He said the political leadership of Balochistan had decided that the Mastung incident would not be allowed to postpone the election process.
“The best way to pay tribute to Siraj Raisani is to continue our election campaign with the same passion,” he noted.”The people of Balochistan want to avenge the Mastung killings, and the best way to do it is to come out in large numbers and vote,” Hashmi continued.
He admitted that the massacre in Mastung would affect voter turnout in the election, though he pointed out that “security institutions have already taken steps to restore people’s confidence in the election process.”
“After the Mastung carnage, there is fear among political workers and they are likely to hold small corner meetings. The situation suits the Baloch separatists, and it almost looks like the repeat of the 2013 elections,” Saeed Sarbazi, a senior Baloch analyst, told Arab News.
“In the tribal society of Balochistan, Siraj Raisani was a major anti-separatist figure. With this massive attack and his tragic death, people’s election enthusiasm will come to an end,” he said.
Abbas Nasir, former editor of Dawn, says the blast in Mastung may affect it in the nearby districts but it will not cut turnout which has traditionally been low because of other reasons.
“In Balochistan constituencies, the voters have to make a distance of up to 40 kilometers to poll their votes as the constituencies are spread over a large area. The turnout in Balochistan can never be similar to that in the rest of Pakistan.”
Meanwhile, the military’s spokesperson said, while quoting the army chief in his tweet, that “attempts of inimical forces to derail important democratic activity shall not succeed.”
Pakistanis, he added, were united, and they were going to defeat terrorists.