On Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan again appealed to the Hazara group to bury those killed in the attack in the Mach region of Balochistan.
At the launch ceremony of the Special Technology Zones Authority in Islamabad, the PM spoke. He said the demonstrators had been told by the government that they would be compensated.
“You cannot blackmail the prime minister of any country like this,” #Pakistani PM Imran Khan tells Hazara protesters in Quetta who are refusing to bury 11 miners killed by militants on Sunday until the PM visits Quetta. “Then everyone will start blackmailing.” pic.twitter.com/Yx1OB4hy4p
— Mehreen Zahra-Malik (@mehreenzahra) January 8, 2021
“All of their demands we have embraced. [But] one of their requests is that when the premier comes, the deceased are buried. I sent them a message that you will not blackmail the prime minister of any country like this until all of your demands have been approved.
The prime minister would then be blackmailed by someone,” he said.” “This blackmail has continued for two-and-a-half years as well.”
PM Imran said the protesters were told that he will visit once those killed in the attack are buried.
“I am using this platform to say that I will go to Quetta today to meet the families of the deceased if you bury them today.”
PM surprises Pakistanis again with his announcement of ‘blackmailing’
Unbelievable, but not really https://t.co/ZSVrdU7SBb
— Fahad Desmukh (@desmukh) January 8, 2021
Not an ounce of empathy. Just narcissism it seems. What a fall from the strident tones of 2012.
— Zarrar Khuhro (@ZarrarKhuhro) January 8, 2021
Fact that IK can get away with calling Hazara who continue to face massacre after massacre, blackmailers, says so much about this country. He will get away with it and nothing will change. There will be no consequences. #hazarakojeenaydou #hazaralivesmatter #hazarakillings https://t.co/Sqrzuedbbr
— Rabia Mehmood – رابعہ (@Rabail26) January 8, 2021
نیوزی لینڈ کے مسلمان اپنی وزیرآعظم کو بلیک میل کرتے ہوئے pic.twitter.com/oTNz91PjlC
— Khalid Munir (@Khalid_Munir) January 8, 2021
عمران خان نے ہزارہ برادری کی 10 لاشوں کو NRO دینے سے انکار کردیا @AsadAToor @OmairHere @murtazasolangi @jawabdeyh @GFarooqi @Faysal_Chaudary @IffatHasanRizvi @omar_quraishi @omair78 @asmashirazi @naeemashrafbut3 pic.twitter.com/tSPkvC2GTz
— Adnan Hussain 我爱巴基斯坦 (@AdnanhussainAD) January 8, 2021
“لاش” اسے کہتے ہیں !! 👇🏻👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/bWh4dNmafJ
— AK-47™© (@AK_Forty7) January 8, 2021
Protests have spread in Pakistan over the murder of Hazara
Protests over the killing by Islamic State militants of 11 Hazara coal miners have spread to other towns, including Karachi.
On Thursday, police said there were sit-ins in the vast southern metropolis in at least 19 places. Flights were delayed because it had disrupted access to the airport.
Over the last decade, hundreds of Hazaras have been killed in Pakistan in attacks by militant groups and IS militants. Attacks have included school bombings and crowded markets, as well as brazen bus ambushes along Pakistani highways.
Some so called IK supporters are saying that the people of Hazara community are using the dead bodies of their loved ones as political cards to manipulate IK.
Man! Can't you see the pain in these pictures????? #HazaraKoJeenayDo #HazaraShiasWantJustice #HazaraLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/6roFkg49sr— س (@_aDistraction_) January 8, 2021
The demonstrators asked the PM to visit Quetta. A five-day long vigil is being organised by protesters alongside coffins bearing the bodies of the victims, blocking a main highway.
Demands also include the regional government’s dissolution there. They want Islamabad to make a concerted effort to find and prosecute the culprits.
Strange that PM has time to entertain the founding team of Ertugrul in Islamabad but not to meet the Hazara protesters who are mourning.
