QUETTA: The funeral prayers of the 10 slain coalminers have been offered at the Hazara Town Imambargah. Allama Raja Nasir Abbas led the funeral prayers.
The burial process began at around 11:50am at the Hazara Town Graveyard. It is unclear whether all the victims are being buried.
The Afghan government had claimed seven of them as Afghan nationals and said it wanted the bodies returned.
The victims are being buried after six days. Their bodies were kept on the Western Bypass during a protest by their families and other Hazaras. They wanted to bury the victims with Prime Minister Imran Khan but he refused to visit them until the burials were done.
The premier accused the grieving families of “blackmail” and said he would not come until the bodies were interred. He was scheduled to visit Quetta at 10am, the same time the funeral was scheduled but suddenly shifted his visit to noon.
The slain coal-miners were slaughtered by unknown terrorists in Machh area of Balochistan on Sunday (January 3).
National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi, SAPM on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari, Balochistan’s provincial ministers Zia Lango, Saleem Khosa and Mobeen Khilji offered the prayers along with a large number of people.
Earlier on Friday night, the families and relatives of the martyred coal miners called off their sit- in protest and agreed to bury their loved ones after successful negotiations with the government delegation led by Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal. Qasim Suri, Ali Haider Zaidi and Zulfi Bukhari were other members of the Government committee.
Ali Haider Zaidi had announced the decisions taken at the meeting in which all demands of the Hazara community were met and said the incident was not only tragic for one community but in fact shocked the entire nation, regardless of their sect and religion.
He said for the progress of the country, it was vital that all communities live together with peace and harmony, so as to foil the designs of the enemies who want to create chaos.
Ali Zaidi said officials responsible for the security lapse have already been suspended, and a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe the incident. He said the government has also directed law enforcement agencies to review their security plans.
Let it be known that the Hazara community’s sit-in protest, along with the coffins of their martyrs, on Quetta’s Western Bypass had been ongoing for six days.
