Don't know if prime minister would visit Quetta or not: Rashid

Says protestors' seven out of eight demands accepted; urges them to understand "it's a global conspiracy"

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid said on Wednesday that he did not know whether Prime Minister Imran Khan will be visiting Quetta or not.

However, the minister stated that he visited Quetta on the directives of the prime minister, promising to bring perpetrators of the Machh massacre to book.

Rashid added that seven out of eight demands of the protestors have been accepted, adding that “they [protestors] need to understand it is a global conspiracy”.

The interior minister observed that a search was on to arrest the culprits. “We have brought many a terrorists to justice and will not spare those who were involved in this attack,” the minister added.

A day ago, members of the Hazara community who have blocked a highway in Quetta with the bodies of slain coal miners said they will not withdraw until Prime Minister Imran Khan meets them and the killers are brought to justice.

Islamic State militants slit the throats of 11 miners in a residential compound near a mine site in Balochistan on Sunday, filming the entire incident and later posting it online.

Thousands of Hazaras have since staged a protest, arranging the coffins across a highway in the provincial capital.

PDM protest

Speaking of the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s protest in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Rashid stated that staging a protest was the opposition alliance’s democratic right.

He said the premier told him to let the opposition hold a protest if they wish to do so. The interior minister added that the law will not be invoked if everything went peacefully at the protest.

“If they are coming then all I can do is to make sure there are no obstacles in their way,” said Rashid.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan allowed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan, warning the opposition parties that “no breach of law will be allowed”.

“If anyone desires to protest, they may, no obstacle should be put in the way of demonstration,” said the prime minister on Tuesday in a meeting with Rashid.

In continuation of a series of protest against the government and a demand for its ouster, the PDM, an 11-party alliance of opposition, had announced the protest in front of ECP on January 19.