QUETTA: Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi said the government was taking steps to promote unity and religious harmony among the people for foiling nefarious designs of the enemy.
He said the enemy wanted Pakistan to be put on the ‘black list’ of Financial Action Task Force, but it would not succeed in its attempts due to collective efforts of the nation for peace across the country, including Balochistan.
The minister was talking to media persons here after condoling with the families of those who had lost their lives in the Hazraganji Vegetable Market blast. He was accompanied by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari and provincial ministers.
Afridi said the enemies were hatching conspiracies to divide the people of Pakistan on the basis of ethnic lines, language and regional bias, but they would not succeed in their designs. There would be no compromise on Pakistan’s integrity as the government was promoting unity and inter-faith harmony among the people, he added.
Afridi said the law enforcement agencies were making all-out efforts to arrest those involved in the suicide attack at the Hazarganji market.
He said he had come there to condole with the families of blast victims on behalf of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Hazara community should not consider themselves alone, they were very much part of the nation. The perpetrators of Hazarganji blast would be arrested soon and punished, he added.
He said all the parliamentarians and government officials equally shared the grief of Pashtun, Baloch and Hazara families, who had lost their loved ones.
The minister said, “We as a nation stand together for the country’s stability and to foil the enemy’s conspiracies.”
He said crackdown against terrorist elements was underway across Pakistan as the government wanted to eliminate the menace because peace was vital for the country’s progress.
He said military courts had handed capital punishment to many terrorists.
He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had vision to end a sense of deprivation among the people of Balochistan by launching a number of development schemes in the province.
The minister said both the security forces and the people of Balochistan had given tremendous sacrifices for the restoration of peace in the region.
He said the federal and provincial governments, law enforcement agencies and all other stakeholders would work together for providing security to the Hazara community.
All the stakeholders were on one page to improve peace and security in Quetta, he added.
APP