QUETTA: Hazaras community members protesting the execution of the coal miners in Machh on January 3 as the sit-ins enter the sixth day Friday, assured that Prime Minister Imran Khan will not be insulted.
“Respect for Prime Minister Imran Khan will increase if he visits Quetta to console the relatives of slain miners,” said representative of Quetta Martyrs Action Committee, Agha Syed Muhammad Raza on Friday, adding, “We are not against the government, but mourning our loves one”.
Hazaras have staged a continuous sit-in in Quetta in freezing temperatures to demand justice for the slain coalminers gunned down in Machh last week.
The bodies of the deceased have been kept where the community is staging its demonstration on the Quetta-Sibi highway (Western Bypass), near the Hazara Town.
Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal had visited the protest camp of the Hazara families and urged them to bury the slain coal miners.
He had appealed to let go of the condition that they will only do so if Prime Minister Imran Khan visits them.
The Hazara families are sitting here of their own free will, no one is pressurising them, said Agha Syed Muhammad Raza.
He said government officials visited Quetta and requested that the victims be buried soon.
Another member of the Hazara committee said they are neither against the government nor with any political party.
“We have no personal interest. If the [affected] families want to continue their sit-in for a month, we are with them,” Amanullah said.
“Today is the sixth day of the sit-in. We are protesting peacefully,” said protester Allama Ali Hasnain.
“We are peaceful people, no one was harmed in the sit-ins,” Hasnain said, adding that when their dharna started, some people met them with excuses.
He said the sit-in may be disrupted in the coming days by conspiracies.
Agha Ali Raza said Prime Minister Imran Khan should visit Quetta. “Don’t think that he [PM Khan] will be criticised. Respect for him will increase,” he added.
He said the sit-in would not be needed if the protesters’ demands were addressed within 24 hours of the tragedy.
