ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday assured the protesting Hazara community members of his condolatory visit very soon and requested the victim families to bury the bodies of their loved ones.
“I will never betray my people’s trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace,” the prime minister said on Twitter. The grieved families of 11 coal miners killed in Mach area of Balochistan are staging sit-in protest while refusing to bury their bodies.
“I share your pain,” Imran Khan said, recalling that he had visited them in the past as well to stand with them in their time of suffering. The prime minister was referring to his visit of Balochistan in 2012 when the Hazara community members were protesting the killing of their members in multiple incidents in the year, when he was not even in the parliamentary opposition.
“I will come again very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally,” he remarked. He assured the Hazara families that he was cognizant of their sufferings and their demands.
The government was taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future knowing that “our neighbour is instigating this sectarian terrorism,” the prime minister said referring to Indian intervention and sponsoring of terror activities in Pakistan, particularly the Balochistan province – an emerging hub of trade and investment owing to Gwadar Port and China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Also, terming the killing of Hazara people in Mach as a very unfortunate incident, Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday night reaffirmed the commitment of the government to support for the protection of the Hazara community.
In an exclusive interview with ‘a News’, a Turkish news channel, Imran Khan lamented that Hazara community is being targeted by the militants and the ISIS claimed the recent killing of said community in Quetta. The Prime Minister said, the minorities enjoy equal rights in Pakistan as the Constitution guarantees basic rights of all communities in the country. He said the government will also ensure protection of all minorities and communities.
Islamophobia
The Prime Minister said he is well aware of Islamophobia in the western world. He said western communities are not realising and understanding the sentiments of Muslim Ummah about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Imran Khan said that if the values of Muslims are targeted, adverse reaction is imminent. He said the United Nations and world community should play their due role in restricting the right of freedom of speech against holy personalities and making mockery of Muslims.
Imran Khan said that the West must not support making caricatures because its hurts the Muslims all over world. Prime Minister said that meritocracy and equation are guiding principles of Pakistan as the Founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted a state based on research, democracy, justice and education.
RSS inspired Modi
Answering a question, Imran Khan said that India is being ruled by an RSS inspired Modi Government while former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpaye always talked about peace. He said that Modi government thinks that India is only for Hindus and there is no space for Muslims and other minorities there.
Prime Minister said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) inspired ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been implementing a pogrom against the Muslims and all other minorities in India, and Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the RSS was founded during 1920 and its founding fathers had been directly inspired by the Nazi party, and openly admired its racial and extremist policies.
The RSS philosophy, he said, led to racial supremacists as even Mahatama Gandhi was assassinated by an RSS zealot. But when Modi came to power, he responded to a pogrom against the Muslims as evident from his tenure as chief minister of Gujarat where hundreds of Muslims were killed and made homeless by the fanatic Hindus supremacists, he added.
The prime minister to a question said contrary to former Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee who was a moderate, Modi moved on the other way. “The RSS followers believe that India is the country only for the Hindus to live in. Such a situation is not only dangerous for the Muslims, but also for the whole minorities in India,“ he said, tracing back the historical reasons for the RSS-BJP policies against the Muslims and Christians, who had ruled the Sub-continent. The prime minister agreed that Modi was responsible for tense ties between the two countries. He said when he came to power; his first move was to immediately improve relations with India. He asked Modi to build on friendship and move forward to find solutions to the issues but unfortunately, he did not respond. Modi’s whole election campaign was based upon whipping up jingoistic and anti-Pakistan sentiments, he observed.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who visited the victim families on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s directive on Monday, had announced Rs 2.5 million each for slain coal mine workers’ families.
The compensation would comprise Rs 1 million from the prime minister and Rs 1.5 million from the provincial government.
Federal delegation
Later, another high level delegation including Federal Minister Ali Haider Zaidi, Deputy Speaker of National Assembly Qasim Suri, PM’s Special Assistant Zulfiqar Bukhari and Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan also met the protestors and assured them of the government’s all-out support for their protection and arrest of the killers.
However, they could not convince them to call of the protest who had linked it with the visit of the prime minister to assure them the arrest of the culprits.