ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has once again appealed to the Hazara community to bury the victims of Mach area of Balochistan as all their demands have been accepted other than the condition of his visit to the protestors before burial. Speaking at the launch of Special Technology Zones Authority here on Friday, the prime minister said to set the condition of his visit to the burial of the Quetta victims’ dead bodies was not appropriate as no prime minister could be blackmailed.
The prime minister said he had already asked them and would again appeal from this platform that “if they bury the victims today, I guarantee them that that I will reach Quetta today.”
The prime minister said a group of plunderers had been trying to blackmail the government for the last two and half years.
He said before speaking on Special Technology Zones Authority, he would like to speak about the Hazara community that was in great difficulty in Quetta, following the killing of their dear ones.
He said Hazara community suffered more than any other community during the last 20 years and especially after 9/11 it remained the target of terrorist brutal killings.
No other community suffered such cruelty, he added.
The premier further stated that the murder of 11 workers of Hazara community at a coal mine was part of the Indian conspiracy to create chaos in Pakistan.
The prime minister said India had been trying to create sectarian divide by killing the religious clerics of Shia and Sunnis.
The intelligences agencies had foiled four terrorism incidents – one near Islamabad – and despite that a high-profile Sunni religious leader was murdered in Karachi, added the prime minister.
He said soon after the incident, he immediately sent the interior minister and two federal ministers to Quetta to convey to the Hazara community that the government was fully standing behind them, and also held out assurance to them that the victims’ families would be fully compensated.
The prime minister said establishment of Special Technology Zones Authority was a step at giving incentives to the IT sector to bolster its growth.
This, he said, will provide immense job opportunities to the youth and boost our IT-related exports.
The prime minister said overseas Pakistanis including those in the United States could benefit from the incentives being offered to the IT companies.
He added that the special technology zones in the country would also help attract foreign investment.
According to the PM’s Office, the Special Technology Zones Authority will serve to create a space for foreign investors, indigenous companies, and educational and training institutes to collaborate for information technology-driven industrial revolution in Pakistan.
The launch marks the beginning of an era of dedicated and integrated national knowledge-based ecosystem in Pakistan. Amer Ahmed Hashmi has been appointed the chairman of the authority.
The specific mandate of the STZA is to lead the development of Special Technology Zones (STZs) in the country.
The zones will help increase high-tech exports of Pakistan and facilitate technology transfer from major global science and technology hubs. The chairman STZA said the zones will foster skills development, job creation, technology transfer, and new economic value generation.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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