Imran appeals to Balochistan mourners to bury slain coal miners, promises to visit 'very soon'
- 06 Jan 2021
Gulf Today Report
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday urged the protesting members of Balochistan's Shiite Hazara community to bury the bodies of the miners killed in a brutal attack in Mach, promising he would visit them "very soon."
In a series of tweets, the premier assured that the government was taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future. "Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace," Imran tweeted on Wednesday.
On Sunday, armed attackers slit the throats of 11 miners in a residential compound near a mine site in Balochistan's Mach coalfield area, filming the entire incident and later posting it online. The gruesome attack was claimed by Daesh group.
Since then, thousands of Hazaras have staged a protest along with coffins containing the miners' bodies in the western bypass area in Quetta, while members of their community have also held protests in the port city of Karachi.
The protesters have said they will not bury the miners' bodies until Prime Minister Imran meets them and the killers are brought to justice, continuing their protest on Wednesday for a fourth straight day.
"I want to reassure the Hazara families who lost their loved ones in a brutal terrorist attack in Mach that I am cognisant of their suffering & their demands," the premier said on Twitter, adding that the government was taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future and knew that "our neighbour is instigating this sectarian terrorism."
"I share your pain and have come to you before also to stand with you in your time of suffering. I will come again very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally," he said while addressing the mourning Hazaras. "I will never betray my people's trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace."
The community's refusal to bury the bodies is symbolic in Pakistan, where according to Islamic culture people should be buried within 24 hours, before the next sunset.
"This is systematic ethnic cleansing of Hazaras in Balochistan and our security forces are behaving like lame ducks, doing nothing," said Zainab Ahman, an activist among the mourners.
Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani also requested the protesters to "not link Prime Minister Imran's visit with the burials" of the miners.
Addressing a press conference in Quetta along with Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari and members of the Hazara community, Alyani said that as Muslims, we "have our religious responsibilities [to bury the deceased]" and these should be fulfilled.
"I would request the community to not associate it with some official's visit," he added. The chief minister said that conditions in the province had "improved considerably" since a decade ago and no such incident happened in 2020.
The community's refusal to bury the bodies is symbolic in Pakistan, where according to Islamic culture people should be buried within 24 hours, before the next sunset.
"This is systematic ethnic cleansing of Hazaras in Balochistan and our security forces are behaving like lame ducks, doing nothing," said Zainab Ahman, an activist among the mourners.