PM IMRAN KHAN ASSURES HAZARAS HE FEELS THEIR PAIN AMID PROTEST IN KARACHI

Wed 06 January 2021:

Protesters blocked several key roads in Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi on Wednesday after the killing of 11 Shia coal miners in the southwestern Balochistan province last week.

The protesters, including women and children, staged sit-ins, causing traffic jams on several major arteries in the port city, and making airlines reschedule their flights.

Meanwhile, the victims’ relatives and other members of the community continued their sit-in in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, demanding Prime Minister Imran Khan personally visit the bereaved families and assure them of the killers’ arrest.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday assured the protesting Hazara families that he would visit them “very soon”, urging them to bury their loved ones for the time being.

“I want to reassure the Hazara families who lost their loved ones in a brutal terrorist attack in Machh that I am cognisant of their suffering and their demands,” said the prime minister in tweet.

The premier said that his government is taking “steps to prevent such attacks in the future”. He reminded them that it was Pakistan’s “neighbour” that is “instigating sectarian terrorism”.

I want to reassure the Hazara families who lost their loved ones in a brutal terrorist attack in Machh that I am cogniscant of their suffering & their demands. We are taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future & know our neighbour is instigating this sectarian terrorism.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 6, 2021

The PM said that he shares the pain of the Hazara community, adding that he has visited them and stood by them during their time of suffering before.

“I will come again very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally. I will never betray my people’s trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace,” said PM Imran.

The tweets by the premier came as the Hazara families continue their sit-in following the brutal killing of 11 coal miners in Machh.

He also tweeted after a delegation headed by federal minister Ali Zaidi, sent by him, failed to convince families of the slain miners to bury their dead and not keep Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit a condition for their last rites.

The talks were held a day after Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s visit failed to end the protest.

Khan has sent several federal ministers, including Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, to woo the protesters and end the sit-in, but to no avail.

Assuring the protesters that he would soon visit the families to offer his condolences, he appealed: “Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace.”

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