Staff Reporter
Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator A. Rehman Malik participated in the sit-in protest against the Machh tragedy today here in Islamabad and once again urged the Prime Minister Imran Khan to give up ego and visit the protesting Hazara community waiting and demanding his visit. Sen. Rehman Malik said that tragedy of Machh wherein eleven miners of the Hazara community have been killed mercilessly has hurt every Pakistani.
He said that Machh tragedy is a highly barbaric act of terrorism that has shaken the entire nation. He said, “I have come to express my heartfelt condolence and solidarity with the families of the martyrs of Hazara community”.
He said that thousands of men, women, and children are protesting along with coffins of their loved ones in extremely harsh weather of minus 8 degrees Celsius in Quetta demanding the visit of the Prime Minister. He said that without any further delay the Prime Minister while keeping aside his ego should reach Quetta to console the mourning community.
The Chairman Standing Committee on Interior said that he was the first one who pointed out the presence of ISIS in Pakistan years back, but successive governments have been refusing to accept its presence just as a policy. He said that he has always been advocating that rather than remain in the state of denial we should accept that Daesh is very much present in Pakistan. He said that Daesh handlers recruited over 80 thousand Pakistanis mostly from south Punjab and the recent ouster of Pakistani Daesh operators from Syria will be a great threat to the country.
He said that the way Hazara miners have been slaughtered shows the Daesh involvement as cutting the throat is the job of ISIS. He said that he had earlier said that there was a conspiracy against the Shia community. Sen Rehman Malik while addressing the protesters said that he as Interior Minister had faced the same situation when on 10 January 2013 some 130 Shia Hazara were killed in a brutal suicide attack in Quetta that led the Shia community to protest. He said that mourners had refused to bury the dead bodies of martyrs until their demands are not met.
He said that without wasting any time, he flew in C-130 to Iran and met the Iranian President, Supreme Leader, Foreign Minister, and also his counterpart and sought their help to convince Shia clerics in Pakistan to bury the dead bodies adding resultantly the dead bodies were buried after fulfilling their demands.
