Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Saturday warned the federal and Balochistan government to apprehend the culprits of the Quetta blast before August 19.

The council also asked Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali to take suo motu notice of the attack and fix responsibility on the delinquents.

“It is painful to note that till date no positive efforts have been made by the government/agencies concerned to identify the culprits behind the Quetta blast,” the council lamented in a statement following a meeting of the office-bearers. “In case of failure, the PBC and all other provincial/Islamabad bar councils and bar associations will hold a public demonstration before the Parliament House on Monday, August 22,” it said.

The council demanded that the federal and provincial governments should initiate measures for security arrangements at all district and high courts across Pakistan on the same footing as the National Action Plan.

Quetta attack is considered the second major incident after the massacre of students of the Army Public School Peshawar, which took place in 2014. The instant tragic incident of August 8 in Quetta left more than 70 people dead, including 54 lawyers and Balochistan Bar Council’s office-bearers.

However, following the visit of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) officials to Quetta, the PBC on Saturday met under the chairmanship of Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf, which decided to suspend its business agenda in view of the tragedy in Quetta. The meeting condemned the shameless attack by terrorists and expressed solidarity with the injured, saying that the attack was pre-planned and there appeared to be serious security lapses on part of the administration/security agencies. PBC Vice Chairman Dr Farogh Naseem then took the chair and, after deliberations that went on for three hours, further decided to press the government for establishment of hospitals and clinics in Balochistan. The council noted with disappointment that Balochistan “lacks basic medical facilities” and as a consequence dozens of injured were shifted to Karachi. “The respective governments are required to address this issue on priority,” the meeting urged. While condemning the provincial government on its announcement of a meagre monetary compensation of Rs 10 million for all martyred advocates, the council demanded a grant of Rs 10 million for each victim’s family as a monetary support within 15 days, along with establishing a “Shuhada Fund” for lawyers who are either martyred or injured on account of terrorism.