Ready to go to Quetta if Hazara protestors bury their dead: PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he's able to attend Quetta immediately if the protesting Hazara community buries their dead.

Speaking at a launch ceremony of Special Technology Zones Authority in Islamabad, the premier said making the burial conditional on his visit is inappropriate. 

The prime minister said he wanted to start out by clearing his position on the matter. "All the stress put forth by the protesters are accepted; therefore, making the burial [of the dead] conditional on the prime minister's visit isn't appropriate," he said. "This is like blackmailing the prime minister."

PM Imran Khan said when he learned about the killing of 11 coal miners in Machh, he first sent Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed to Quetta then two federal ministers [Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari and Ali Zaidi] to assure the Hazara community that the govt stood behind them. 

"I assured them that they might be compensated and taken care of because the affected families have lost their breadwinners."

PM Imran Khan said the federal has accepted all demands put forth by the Hazara protestors but they're adamant that they might not bury the dead until the prime minister visits Quetta.

"Nowhere within the world are you able to blackmail a major minister like this. Because then [it opens the door for] every crook to stage a sit-in and demand corruption cases against them be withdrawn. this is often vital ."

"The Hazara community has faced the foremost cruelty," said the prime minister. "They are persecuted in ways no other [community] has been persecuted. I even have visited them and seen their fear."

"India is trying its best to make chaos [in Pakistan]," he continued. "I had already told the cupboard that Shia ulema could also be targeted during a bid to spread unrest. A Sunni alim was murdered in Karachi — we put out that fireplace with great difficulty."

"I have told them that if they bury the victims today, i will be able to attend Quetta today. However, their demand to bury their relatives as long as I visit them isn't appropriate and not acceptable," he said. "I want to form it clear that we've accepted all the stress but this is often not appropriate that you simply put forth a condition that doesn't add up ."