Quetta sit-in: Balochistan govt accuses Maryam, Bilawal of doing politics

The Balochistan government has accused the PML-N and PPP of doing politics on the Hazara sit-in in Quetta.

On January 3, at least 10 coal miners were executed by unidentified men in their sleeping room in the Machh coal field area.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State’s Wilayah Pakistan arm. The militant group released a graphic image that showed two armed men standing next to the bodies of the coal miners.

Hazara protesters have been staging a sit-in at a highway near Quetta for the last five days and have refused to bury their dead. The protesters say they won’t bury the victims until Prime Minister Imran Khan arrives in Quetta and meets families of the slain miners.

Maryam and Bilawal visited the aggrieved families on Thursday along with other leaders of their parties.

But Liaquat Shahwani, the Balochistan government spokesman, said the behaviour of the two political leaders was irresponsible.

He accused them of provoking the protesters by attending the sit-in. "Politics was done on the sit-in in hushed words and soft sentences."

The spokesman said this was not the time to do politics, adding that opposition leaders should have urged the protesters to bury their loved ones.

He assured the Hazara community that the provincial government would bring the perpetrators to justice.

Shahwani said the Afghan government had asked for the bodies of its nationals and requested the protesters to hand them over to the government.

Of the 10 coal miners killed in Machh, seven were Afghan nationals. The Afghan foreign ministry informed Pakistan that the families of three slain miners wanted to bury them in Afghanistan.