Another round of talks with Hazara mourners failed
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Yet another attempt to woo the mourning protesters meet its fate as talks between the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi and Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari with Hazara mourners staging a protest at Western Bypass in Quetta failed on Wednesday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Men, women and children of Quetta's Hazara community continued protesting the massacre of 11 coalminers for a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday at Quetta’s Western Bypass along with the dead bodies of the slain colliers.
The mourners stuck to their demand that they will not bury their dead until Prime Minister Imran Khan visits them.
It is pertinent to note that three rounds of talks have failed since the protesters camped at Quetta’s Western Bypass.
In the third unfruitful round of talks, the Balochistan government was represented by Home Minister Zia Langov, Finance Minister Zahoor Buledi, Saleem Khosa aur Mobeen Khilji and before that Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri and other ministers also tried to convince the protesters to call off the protest but failed.
Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal is also chairing a meeting in Quetta to review a law and order situation in the province, according to Balochistan government Spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani.
According to the Spokesperson, in the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary Balochistan and Inspector General (IG) Frontier Constabulary gave a detailed briefing on the Machh tragedy to the chief executive of the province.
وزیراعلی بلوچستان @jam_kamal کی زیر صدارت امن وامان سے متعلق اعلیٰ سطحی اجلاس
— Govt. of Balochistan (@dpr_gob) January 6, 2021
اجلاس میں ایڈیشنل چیف سیکریٹری داخلہ اور آئی جی ایف سی کی وزیر اعلی کو مچھ میں پیش آنے والے واقعہ اور بعد کی صورتحال سے متعلق تفصیلی بریفنگ pic.twitter.com/xcrZ8DUT3r
The protesters did not budge from their positions and continued to stage a sit-in despite harsh weather conditions and vowed they will only end the sit-in when Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit the sit-in site.
They burnt coal to keep themselves warm during the chilly nights of Quetta.
It has been reported that members of the Hazara community, as well as bereaved relatives of the colliers, were staging a sit-in to voice their grievances.
In the incident, four others were seriously wounded. Heavy contingents of police, paramilitary force and officials of the local administration rushed to the site in Machh, about 48 kilometres east of Quetta.
Police authorities said the miners were on the way to work when armed militants kidnapped them and took them to the nearby mountains before opening fire at close range.