Members of the Hazara community staged sit-ins in various cities to express solidarity with the families of coal miners shot dead in Balochistan’s Mach area. The bereaved families continued their protest in Quetta for the fourth consecutive day, while Karachi, too, held sit-ins at five places.
Protesters refused to end sit-ins and instead, reiterated their demand for the Prime Minister to directly visit them. Meanwhile, Ali Zaidi, the current Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs and Zulfi Bukhaari, Special Assistant to Prime Minister, reached Quetta on the instructions of Imran Khan and held talks with the Hazara community leaders late night. They appealed to them to end their protest and assured them that the Prime Minister would visit them. The community, however, rejected the appeal.
Earlier, the Federal Cabinet in a meeting held with Prime Minister Imran Khan, accepted seven of the eight demands of the protesters. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad briefed the cabinet members on his meeting with the protesters in Quetta. The Prime Minister once again assured the bereaved families that the perpetrators of the crime will not be allowed to escape punishment.
