QUETTA: Thousands of miners and their families have been protesting against the brutal killing of 11 miners in Machh area of Balochistan province by placing their bodies on the Western Bypass and demanding that they refuse to bury their loved ones. That the attackers be arrested.
On the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed arrived in Quetta on Monday and held talks with the Sugora community.
He assured them that the government was ready to accede to all their demands except for the resignation of the provincial government, and urged them to end their protest so that the bodies could be buried.
However, the Hazara community refused to accept this and despite the extremely cold weather in the provincial capital, the families, including women and children, refused to leave the Western Bypass, demanding that the government go home and hold a judicial inquiry into the incident. Go.
Third Air student Masooma Yaqub Ali, who lost five members of her family in the incident, said, "There is no man alive in our family who could bury my elder brother and 4 other relatives."
He said that out of his 5 siblings, his brother was the only son of the parents and was the sole breadwinner of the household.
During talks with the protesters, Sheikh Rashid assured the community that those involved in the incident would be brought to justice.
On this occasion, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed after talks with the representatives of Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) announced to the media that Rs. 2.5 million would be paid to the family of each affected person.
Condemning the incident, the Home Minister said, "I am deeply saddened by the massacre in Machh."
He said that the demands of the Hazara community would be conveyed to the Prime Minister and also asked the MWM leaders to form a five or seven member committee to meet the Prime Minister in Islamabad.
In addition, official sources said that the bodies of two coal miners were sent to Afghanistan.
"The family members took the two bodies to their hometowns in Afghanistan for burial," said a MWM leader.
Representatives of the Hazara community, MWM, Hazara Democratic Party and Balochistan Shia Conference are also present at the protest site.
Leading the protest, MWM Balochistan President Syed Agha Raza announced that the bodies would not be buried until the demands of the Hazara community were met.
"We are holding a sit-in for the protection of Hazaras who have been facing such killings for a long time and are fed up with the situation," he said.
He said the Balochistan government should resign because it had consistently failed to protect members of the Hazara community.
"We will continue this protest till the resignation of the provincial government," he said, adding that a judicial commission comprising current and retired Supreme Court judges should be formed to investigate the incident.
He said that the sit-in would continue till the arrival of Prime Minister Imran Khan for talks so that practical steps could be taken to arrest the killers.
Provincial ministers Mir Zahoor Ahmed Baledi and Noor Mohammad Damar and Deputy Commissioner Aurangzeb Badini also held talks with MWM leaders, but failed because the protesting leaders refused to end the sit-in until the prime minister arrived for talks.
Meanwhile, the police's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) registered a case against unknown militants in connection with the killing of 11 miners and launched an investigation.
Official sources said that a case was registered against SHO Machh police at Naseerabad police station on the complaint of Bakhsh Bugti under sections 302 and 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
