Promising to visit ‘very soon’, Imran urges Hazaras to bury dead miners

–PM vows to ‘never betray’ public trust in him

–Protests spill over into Karachi, Lahore, Multan

ISLAMABAD/QUETTA: Urging the protesting Hazaras to bury the bodies of slain coal mine workers, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday assured the families of victims of Mach carnage of a visit “to offer prayers and condole with all the families”.

On Sunday, the so-called Islamic State (IS) militants slit the throats of 11 miners belonging to the Shia Hazara community in a residential compound near a mine site in Mach town of Balochistan’s Bolan district, filming the entire incident and later posting it online.

Six of the miners were already dead when found, and five who were critically wounded died on the way to the hospital.

Thousands of Hazaras have since staged a protest, arranging the coffins across a highway in Quetta, refusing to withdraw until the prime minister meets them and the killers are brought to justice.

“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 & their demands,” the prime minister said in a series of tweets.

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,” he said, adding: “I will come again very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally.”

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

“I will never betray my people’s trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace.”

In an apparent reference to India, Imran said that the government “know[s] our neighbour is instigating this sectarian terrorism” and it was “taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future”.

The protesters continued the sit-in on Wednesday, saying they would not bury their dead relatives.

“We have become tired of picking up the bodies of our people,” Syed Agha Raza, a Shia Hazara political leader, told Reuters.

A young protestor, Masooma Yaqoob Ali, told Reuters her elder brother along with four other relatives were among those killed. “Now we have no male member [of our family] to take coffins of our brother and other relatives to the graveyard for burial,” she said, shedding tears as she spoke.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Alyani also requested the protesters to “not link the burials [of the miners] with Prime Minister Imran’s visit”.

Addressing a press conference in Quetta along with federal ministers Ali Haider Zaidi and Zulfi Bukhari and members of the Shia 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.

Bukhari and Zaidi arrived in Quetta late Tuesday night on the directions of the prime minister to hold talks with protest organisers.

Expressing grief over the incident, Alyani said that he was on a visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) when he heard the news of the attack and he came back as soon he received negative results for his coronavirus test.

“I held a meeting with [officials from law enforcement agencies],” he said while detailing the steps his government has taken so far.

“Our coming here is witness to how serious we are taking this and owning this,” he said, adding that the Shia Hazara community members “are our brethren and we have no hesitation in talking to them”.

He also said that conditions in the province had “improved considerably” since a decade ago and no such incident happened in 2020.

Alyani said that his government did not look at people in terms of their ethnicity or religious affiliation. Mentioning how conditions had improved in the province over the last few years, he said he had also participated in several programmes in Quetta’s Hazara Town.

“But the enemies of Balochistan and Pakistan did not like this. The Balochistan government is a huge stakeholder, and we are making efforts to take things forward so citizens and children of this city can progress.”

“We came here [today] to show solidarity with the whole community,” he emphasised. “We will also visit the relatives [of the slain miners]. Wherever they are, we will go visit them.”

Responding to a question about the protesters’ demand for a visit by the premier, he said that “the biggest responsibility” lay with the Balochistan government.

“[The prime minister] will definitely come, the president will come, ministers and parliamentarians will come. But even if the prime minister comes, we have to solve our problems ourselves,” he said.

Zaidi, who spoke after the chief minister, too appealed to the Shia Hazara community to bury the deceased miners.

“The external enemies of Pakistan commit such acts in Pakistan. What is saddening is that we find Mir Sadiqs and Mir Jafars from among us,” the minister said, adding that he could “present proof of foreign interference” in the country.

“[Indian spy] Kulbushan Jadhav was also arrested from Balochistan,” he recalled.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz appealed to the Hazara community protesting at the Western Bypass in Balochistan to bury their dead.

Taking to Twitter, Maryam said that the murder of the coal miners was not a small tragedy. “The whole nation shares your grief. My father and I are saddened too.”

Asking the mourners to not wait for an “insensitive and heartless” man, Maryam appealed for the slain coal miners to be buried. “May Allah (SWT) elevate their ranks in the hereafter and grant you patience.”

PROTESTS: 

The protesters have refused to bury the victims of the attack until demands, which include the resignation of the Balochistan government, are met. The demonstrations spilled over into Lahore, Karachi, Multan and other cities on Wednesday.

Several roads in Karachi were blocked on Wednesday as protests continued for a second day and reached different areas of the metropolis. Television footages showed plumes of smoke rising as demonstrators took to the streets, burning tyres and wood and disrupting traffic.

According to a police update, the demonstrations, organised by the Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), were happening at several places across the city, including Abbas Town, Abul Hasan Ispahani Road, Kamran Chowrangi at Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Power House Chowrangi in North Karachi, M A Jinnah Road, Sharea Faisal and Malir 15.

One track of the Shahrah-e-Faisal was also closed for traffic, according to the update.

In another update, the traffic police said the protests had spread to other areas of the city as well including Nipa Chowrangi. It said the road leading from Capri Cinema to Guru Mandir was closed for traffic and directed people to use the Soldier Bazaar route.

Along with the MWM, the Shia Ulema Council (SUC), Jafria Alliance (JA), Imamia Students Organisation (ISO) and Jafria Students Organisation (JSO) also participated in the protest.

Earlier, Balochistan Home Secretary Hafiz Basid told Reuters at least nine of the victims were from neighboring Afghanistan, and two bodies had thus far been taken there for burial.

Afghanistan’s Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that seven of the dead were Afghan, and both sides were investigating the incident together.

Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, who arrived in Quetta on Monday, met a delegation of the MWM. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, he said that he had asked the party to form a committee to meet with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad.

“I will arrange the meeting within two to three days,” he had said.

Rasheed also announced compensation of Rs2.5 million to the heirs of each victim, and assured the families of justice.

Hazaras have faced persecution by extremists in both countries. Some Afghan Hazaras come to Pakistan for work in the winter, including at the coal mine in Balochistan.

Quetta is home to nearly 600,000 Shia Hazara, largely confined to two fortified enclaves, and checkpoints manned by paramilitary personnel.

Hundreds of them have been killed over the last decade in attacks across Pakistan, including bombings in schools and crowded markets and brazen ambushes of buses along roads.