The families of slain Hazara coal miners and thousands of protesters have refused to end their sit-in being held at the Western Bypass, Quetta, saying they won’t bury their dead till Prime Minister Imran Khan personally assures them of security.
At least 11 Hazara miners were shot dead by the Islamic State in Mach, Bolan, on Sunday. After the killings, the mourners have been staging a sit-in in Quetta for the past four days.
PM’s aide Zulfi Bukhari, federal minister Ali Zaidi also visited the protesters, but they said they will not end the protest unless PM Imran comes to their protest camp. A video of Zulfi and the protest organisers negotiating has also been making rounds on social media.
In the video, Zulfi is seen assuring the protesters that the PM will visit them soon. The Hazara community representative can be heard saying that the PM’s visit will be beneficial for the entire country. At this, Zulfi asks: “How is the premier going to benefit from this visit?”
At this, the organiser says: “We are saying the PM’s visit will at least solace the families of the slain miners.” Zulfi responds he promises that the PM will visit them. “We want the PM to visit Quetta and meet these families on this stage, in front of all these mourners,” the protester asserts.
At Zulfi refuses to concede to their demand for a meeting with the PM, saying that if God forbid tragedy strikes in some other part of Pakistan, the victims will also start making demands like these… if someone else gets martyred [in a terrorist attack] and their families will start saying that we want this, not that and so on.”
Meanwhile, Ali Zaidi also requested the protesters to take back their demand of a meeting with PM Imran.
