LAHORE: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leaders and activists to join protesters against the killing of Hazara coal miners in Balochistan’s Machh.
According to PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, her party leader has directed his workers and local leaders to join the protests of the Hazara community in their respective cities.
پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) کی ترجمان مریم اورنگزیب کا اہم بیان
قائد محمد نوازشریف نے ہزارہ برادری کی حمایت میں احتجاج کی کال کی مکمل حمایت کا اعلان کیا ہے
پارٹی قائد نے ملک بھر میں جماعت کی مقامی قیادت اور کارکنان کو احتجاج کی کال میں بھرپور شرکت کی ہدایت کی ہے— PMLN (@pmln_org) January 8, 2021
She also informed that the PML-N supremo has also instructed ex-PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to raise the issue in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) meeting.
مسلم لیگ (ن) کی مقامی قیادت اور کارکنان اپنے اپنے شہروں میں ہزارہ برادری کے لئے احتجاج میں شریک ہوں اور حمایت کریں
محمد نوازشریف، شہبازشریف اور پوری جماعت اس مشکل گھڑی اور ہزارہ برادری کے غم میں شریک ہیں
— PMLN (@pmln_org) January 8, 2021
On January 3, armed men slit the throats of 11 miners in a residential compound near a mine site in Balochistan’s Mach coalfield area, filming the entire incident and later posting it online. The gruesome attack was claimed by the militant Islamic State group.
Since then, thousands of Hazaras have staged a protest along with coffins containing the miners’ bodies in the western bypass area in Quetta, while members of the community have also held protests in other cities across the country.
Braving the biting cold, the mourners, including women and children, have refused to leave or lay the miners’ bodies to rest until Prime Minister Imran visits them and the killers are brought to justice.
Earlier today, PM Imran was widely criticized on social media when, amidst countrywide protests and rising political pressure, he suggested that the protesters were “blackmailing” him by refusing to bury their loved ones until he visits them.
