LAHORE / QUETTA: On Sunday, funeral prayers for seven laborers who died were held amid harsh condemnation of security forces for failing to protect workers in Balochistan.
The last rituals of the construction workers, who were brutally murdered on Saturday night in the Panjgur hamlet of Khuda-i-Abadan in Balochistan, drew hundreds of attendees.
One person was hurt in the horrific attack by gunmen who went unnamed. Fortunately, one of their coworkers was outside the room when the incident occurred. Each of the victims was closely related to the other.
Quetta officials said that the Balochistan police’s Counterterrorism Department filed a First Information Report (FIR) against unidentified armed men and began an investigation. Before, in the presence of the deceased’s family, Multan Deputy Commissioner Wasim Hamid accepted the bodies at the airport.
Among those in attendance were MPA Salman Naeem, MNA Syed Abdul Qadir Gillani, and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The bodies were moved to Shujabad tehsil and then given to the heirs, who brought them back to Shujabad, their hometown, and said the funeral prayer.
Five laborers in Basti Chaddur and two more in Shujabad had their funeral prayers said.
In the meantime, residents and bereaved families protested the delay in the remains’ arrival by blocking the M-5 Motorway close to Chaddur Morr. For over sixty minutes, the demonstrators obstructed the Sukkur Motorway. The demonstrators denounced the terrorists who carried out the murders.
When a large police presence showed up, they engaged in talks with the demonstrators. After it was confirmed that there would be no further delays in the bodies arriving, the demonstration was called off.
In addition, the Seraikistan Naujawan Tehreek protested the incident outside the Multan Press Club.
The head of Tehreek, Mazhar Abbas Kaat, claimed that security personnel in Balochistan had repeatedly fallen short in defending the lives and belongings of Seraiki laborers. He said that this year’s murder of a Seraiki youth in Balochistan was the second such incident.
The bodies were moved from Panjgur to Multan earlier by government helicopter, which was provided by Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti.
The remains were received by Multan administration officials and the additional chief secretary (Home) Punjab from the deputy commissioner of Panjgur.
IGP Moazzam Jah Ansari of Balochistan claims that Abu Bakar, a native of Khuda-i-Abadan, brought nine laborers from Multan to help build his home. They lived in a room given to them by the home’s owner while they constructed the dwelling.
According to sources, the local government was unaware of the laborers’ presence in the area since their driver had not reported them to the appropriate authorities for registration.
Following the murder of seven laborers in Turbat last year, the local government began recording workers arriving in Makran for work.
According to officials, the Balochistan police’s Counter Terrorism Department is also looking into why the local government and law enforcement had not acknowledged the existence of laborers traveling from Multan to Panjgur.
