Govt hits out at opposition for politicising Machh incident

Sheikh Rashid pins hope on scholars and elders to find amicable solution

ISLAMABAD:

The government on Friday denounced the opposition for playing politics with the sentiments of Hazaras who have been holding a sit-in over the gruesome murder of their loved ones in Balochistan’s Machh coal field area on Sunday last.

Leading the charge from the government side, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz castigated the opposition parties for politicising the tragic Machh incident to gain political mileage.

Such people were insensitive and inhumane, who even did not refrain from political point-scoring on tragic incidents, he said in a statement.

Faraz lamented that political orphans of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) were doing politics on the bodies of slain Hazara coal miners.

PM won’t be ‘blackmailed’ into visiting Hazaras

“Maryam Nawaz will have to tell the nation as why she had not condoled with the families of the martyrs of Model Town, Lahore, who were brutally murdered during the tenure of her uncle as Punjab chief minister,” he added.

The minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his recent address, had used the word ‘blackmailing’ for those, who played politics over every issue.

He equally shared the grief and pain of the bereaved families of slain Hazara colliers and considered it the government's foremost responsibility to provide them justice.

Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi shared a copy of the agreement signed between the protesters and the government.

"Attached are demands and the written agreement offered by the government. Although no one can ever put a value on human life, for info, the agreed compensation is much higher than what the agreement says."

He went on to say: "If all is agreed, then who is playing politics with the bodies of the martyrs?"

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill said from Hazara Party Chairman Abdul Khaliq Hazara's remarks "it is clear that the heirs have been willing to bury their loved ones since the very next day [of the incident]."

"There are some other elements who wish to create unrest in this matter," he said.

Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, while addressing a news conference, hoped that the matter of burial of the martyred coal miners will be amicably resolved after which Prime Minister Imran Khan will be among them.

He said hopefully religious and tribal leaders would convince the families of slain miners to bury the bodies of their loved ones soon after which the prime minister will be among them and will have detailed discussion with them to address their grievances.

"The dead bodies of the slain miners should be buried in view of sanctity of the martyred. We have sought help from the religious leaders of Ahl-e-Tashee, scholars and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) to convince the families to bury the martyred," the minister said.

He said there were certain reasons (including security matters) behind the delay in the prime minister’s visit to Quetta which cannot be made public.

"It is a sad state of affairs that some sections are politicising the matter while there is a lot of time for politics in the future," he lamented.

(With additional input from News Desk)