On Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Special Technology Zones Authority ceremony in Islamabad. Addressing the Hazara mourners at the event, the premier reiterated his request to bury their loved ones who were brutally killed in Balochistan’s Machh area.
“We have accepted all of their demands. [But] one of their demands is that the dead will be buried when the premier visits. I have sent them a message that when all of your demands have been accepted […] you don’t blackmail the prime minister of any country like this.
“Anyone will blackmail the prime minister then,” said PM Khan.
He also referred to the Pakistan Democratic Movement and said “This blackmail has also been ongoing for two-and-a-half years.”
Read more: 11 coal miners killed in Balochistan’s Machh area
Reassuring the families of the victims, PM Khan said “I am using this platform to say that if you bury them today, I will go to Quetta to meet the families of the deceased.
“This should be clear. All your demands have been met but you can’t impose a condition that makes no sense. So first, bury the dead. If you do it today, then I guarantee you that I will come to Quetta today,” he added.
#Live: Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI addressing a ceremony in #Islamabad https://t.co/tR8VW4hIde
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) January 8, 2021
11 coal miners from Balochistan’s Machh area were kidnapped and brutally slaughtered by armed militants. Since then, the victim’s families have been protesting and sitting on the western bypass area in Quetta in freezing cold weather conditions. They are demanding PM Khan to visit them and talk to them, only then will they bury their loved ones. The militant outfit Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the brutal attack.
Read more: PM praises exporters commerce ministry for outshining India, BD in exports
PM Khan in his speech, acknowledged that the Hazara community has suffered “the most cruelty”. The brutal attack is part of the Indian conspiracy prevalent since March.
“I had informed my cabinet and then gave public statements on this: India is trying its level best to spread chaos in Pakistan,” the premier said.
“I laud our intelligence agencies on the fact that they thwarted four major terrorist events. Despite this, a high profile Sunni aalim was killed in Karachi […] with great difficulty we managed to quell the flames of a sectarian divide,” he added.
Read more: Machh tragedy: Is PM Imran Khan scheduled to visit Balochistan?
On Wednesday, PM Khan took to Twitter to extend his condolences to the Hazara community. “I want to reassure the Hazara families who lost their loved ones in a brutal terrorist attack in Machh that I am cognizant of their suffering & their demands. We are taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future & know our neighbor is instigating this sectarian terrorism,” he wrote.
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
“I share your pain & 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. I will never betray my people’s trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace.”
I share your pain & 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. I will never betray my people's trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 6, 2021
PM Khan after his address at the Special Technology Zones Authority ceremony, has garnered backlash from several Twitter users. He is being criticized for using the word “blackmail” for an attack that has turned the Hazara community’s world upside down.
The blackmailers pic.twitter.com/qkQKjXThSx
— Zainab (@Syyeda14) January 8, 2021
Still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Imran Khan used the word “blackmail”. Blackmail for the people simply asking for their rights. Blackmail for the people out in the freezing cold with the bodies of their loved ones. Sick.
— Noor (@NoorHSumra) January 8, 2021
While others came out in his support and defended him by saying there is a serious security issue, hence why it is not easy for him to visit Quetta at the moment.
https://twitter.com/cocomo_miss/status/1347446196131028992
That's not what he meant. Either you didn't listen or someone has misguided you. He said "I will visit today if you bury the dead bodies, as gov has already agreed to accept all their demands".
— JJays (@zeb_jays) January 8, 2021
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