ISLAMABAD: The activists of civil society and Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) on Thursday continued to mount pressure on the government through a mega sit-in protest on Jinnah Avenue, demanding action against the killing of 11 coalminers in Mach in Balochistan province.
As members of the Shia Hazara community in Balochistan continued their protests for the fifth consecutive day, braving long winter nights and freezing temperatures, the protesters in Islamabad also said that they would continue their protests unless the Hazara community's demands were met.
The Hazara community has refused to burry the 11 coalminers killed by militants over the weekend until Prime Minister Imran Khan personally visits them to assure their protection.
They refused to burry their coalminers killed by the militants, despite visits by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, saying they would continue their sit-in unless the prime minister visits them.
The protesters in Islamabad holding placards inscribed with slogans that "Hazara Shia's protection must be ensured" and "Why my killers are unknown?" etc, continued their protests for the third consecutive day to show solidarity with the Shia Hazaras.
They demanded the protection of the Shia Hazara community, saying the massacre of the persecuted community must come to an end, and the prime minister [Imran Khan] should personally visit the area and listen to them.
The 11 miners were brutally massacred on Sunday, when armed assailants entered the residential compound in the Mach coalfield area of Balochistan, where they were sleeping, blindfolded, and trussed them up before executing them.
Relatives and residents started their protest on the same day, arranging the coffins on the Western Bypass on the outskirts of Quetta, and refusing to bury them in a symbolic gesture until the prime minister's visit and assurance of protection.
The protests later spread to other parts of the country, including cities in Punjab, Islamabad, and Karachi, where demonstrators blocked several important roads, disrupting traffic.
An activist of the MWM said that the systematic ethnic cleansing of Hazara Shias in Balochistan had continued for the last many years, but the state which was supposed to ensure their safety and security was acting like a lame duck.
A spokesman of the MWM which is leading the sit-in in capital, in a statement said that the protests have been joined by people from all walks of life and beyond their sectarian or political association.
"We all are united in these testing times for the Hazara community. We demand the government and Prime Minister Imran Khan play their due role before it is too late," he warned.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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