The Awami Workers Party condemns the deadly blast at Civil Hospital in Quetta in which over 50 people have lost their lives, most of them lawyers gathered for the funeral of recently-assassinated Balochistan Bar Association President Anwar Kasi. AWP expresses its deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who have lost their lives in this terrible incident, as well as the legal fraternity of Quetta who have suffered unimaginably and lost dozens of their most capable colleagues.
This blast is a reminder of how the people of Balochistan have been thrown to the wolves by the Pakistani government and establishment. Banned outfits like LEJ and ASWJ continue to operate with impunity in Quetta and the rest of the province, which is also home to the infamous Taliban Quetta Shura. The dozens of deaths today are a consequence of our failed policies of support for such extremist groups that have ended up murdering tens of thousands of Pakistanis in cold blood. The statement of Chief Minister Balochistan Sanaullah Zehri that the attack was carried out by RAW is a barefaced denial of our own catastrophic policy and security failures.
AWP reiterates its position that there can be no lasting peace in Pakistan until the establishment ceases its support for all fundamentalist militant groups regardless of their strategic value in neighboring countries. Far too much blood has been spilled because of our failure to reign in these monsters of our own making.
AWP calls on all progressive forces in the country to forge a common front against fundamentalist violence and its supporters in state and society. Only through a collective political and ideological mass struggle against the rampant forces of reaction can we hope to end this kind of bloodshed.
Awami Workers Party