Quetta bombing: Countrywide protests enter third day

Source : The Express Tribune

Families of the Quetta blast victims continued their sit-in for the third day in Hazara Town and Alamdar Road on Tuesday, refusing to bury their loved ones, Express News reported.

To express solidarity with the Shia Hazaras in Quetta, several protests and sits-in across the country also continued after the government failed to fulfill the demands of the Hazara community.

In Lahore, many roads were blocked, including the GT Road and motorway interchanges, causing inconvenience to transporters. A sit-in was also being held at Shahdara Chowk.

The Majlis-e-Wehdat-e-Muslameen (MWM) members continued their sit-in outside Governor House in Lahore, demanding those involved in the blast to be arrested.

Streets in Karachi also remained deserted while private schools were closed. Several areas, including Ancholi and Ayesha Manzil, were blocked as protesters burnt tyres. Shia Ulema Council and MWM in Karachi said that they would continue with their sits-in till their demands are met.

Awami National Party’s (ANP) Ameer Nawab and Bashir Jaan came to the sit-in in Karachi to express solidarity with the protesters.

In Patel Para protesters opened fire at the police after the funeral was held for one of the four people killed in last night’s firing in the area. The police resorted to aerial gunfire and shelling to disperse the protesters.

On February 16, a massive bomb ripped though a busy market in a Shia Hazara neighbourhood of Quetta, killing more than 80 people and injuring nearly 200.

Six killed as a building catches fire in Pakistan's Lahore

Source :  Xinhua | English.news.cn

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least six people including a police officer were killed and four others injured on Saturday night as a four-storey building caught fire in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, local media reported.

According to the reports, the fire broke out at the third floor of a four-storey building located at the Abbot Road area of Lahore.

The fire was so intensive that it quickly engulfed all other storeys of the building and also affected three other buildings located around it.

Police, rescue teams and fire fighters rushed to the site and started rescue work.

Rescue chief told media that they shifted six bodies and four injured people to the hospital besides rescuing 50 others who were trapped in the building.

At least 14 fire engines took part in the operation to put off the fire.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Lahore Noor ul Amin, the fire erupted due to the electricity short circuit that later covered the whole building

Thousands rally in Pakistani capital against gov't

Source : APA

Baku-APA. Thousands of Pakistanis fed up with political leaders they say are corrupt and indifferent rallied in the Pakistani capital Tuesday, as the cleric who organized the rally called for the government to resign, APA reports quoting Associated Press. The dramatic entry into Pakistani politics of Tahir-ul-Qadri, a preacher who until recently lived in Canada, has sparked concern from some that he is seeking to derail elections at the behest of the powerful army. Polls are expected this spring.

Qadri has denied that and insisted his vague demands for election reform are simply meant to root out corruption in the political system. He pledged several weeks ago to lead a "million- man march" on Islamabad on Monday to press his demands. Early in the morning after Qadri finished his speech railing against the government, some of the marchers pushed aside the shipping containers that had been placed on the street to block their access to the city center and government buildings in a protected enclave. Some of the marchers then walked toward the enclave where another row of shipping containers and a heavy police presence protected the government buildings. There were no clashes with security authorities, and the marchers appeared to stop there.

During a 40-minute speech in the early morning hours, Qadri told his supporters that the government's mandate was finished. "Tonight your mandate is finished ... I give you time until tomorrow to dissolve national and all four provincial assemblies otherwise the nation will dissolve them on their own," he said, speaking behind bulletproof glass. Qadri also asked his supporters to take the security of the capital in their hand and guard and protect each of the buildings of Islamabad. The cleric took an oath in front of the crowd that they all will remain peaceful but stay in Islamabad until the revolution is completed. "They are no more rulers but former rulers. Don't follow their orders! I have come here to get you out of their slavery," he said. Many in the crowd waved green and white Pakistani flags and wore buttons emblazoned with the cleric's picture. Security was heavy throughout the city. In addition to the shipping containers blocking the crowds, thousands of paramilitary forces and police in riot gear were deployed and cell phones were jammed after the government warned that militants were planning to attack the protesters. Qadri left his home base in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday accompanied by at least 15,000 people in hundreds of vehicles, and the procession was expected to grow as it approached Islamabad. It was unclear exactly how big the crowd was when the cleric finally arrived in Islamabad at about 2 a.m. Tuesday.

Qadri returned to Pakistan in December after years in Canada, where he's also a citizen. He heads a religious network in Lahore and gained some international prominence by writing a 2010 fatwa, or religious opinion, condemning terrorism. But he was never a national political figure until this winter, when his calls for reforms ahead of elections galvanized many Pakistanis disenchanted by the existing parties. The cleric's vaguely worded demands include vetting of political candidates to make sure they're honest and taking steps to even out the playing field so more people can participate in the political process.