PPP slams PM over ‘blackmail’ statement

KARACHI:

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members lambasted Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday for asking the Hazara community not to "blackmail" him and bury 11 miners who were shot dead in Machh. Speaking to the media, Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Shah requested the Hazara community to bury the bodies and not await the arrival of "insensitive rulers." "Also, don't accept their condolences when they come later," the minister added, addressing the Hazaras. He further remarked, "The Machh tragedy has revealed the real face of Imran Khan." Separately, special assistant to the Sindh chief minister Javed Nayab Laghari issued a statement, saying "The selected PM epitomises apathy." Terming the PM's statement "the most inhumane and illogical statement to have come from a sitting prime minister," Laghari demanded that the PM resigned immediately. Besides, Machh killings dominated the proceedings in the Sindh Assembly for the second consecutive day on Friday. PPP MPA Mir Shabbir Bijarani said during the session, "An elected PM cannot say such words in the wake of a tragic incident." Appealing to the Hazara community to bury the bodies of the slain miners, he said the federal government's response to the sit-ins over the killings was "shameful."