Maryam Nawaz lashes out at PM Imran Khan for not going to Quetta

• Maryam Nawaz refers to PM Imran Khan's comments as "height of insensitivity"
• You have time to watch Turkish dramas and play with dogs but not place your hand over the heads of the oppressed, says Maryam Nawaz
• Hazaras continue their protest, refusing to bury the slain coal miners 
  

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QUETTA: PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, castigating him for not visiting Quetta to meet relatives of the Machh tragedy victims. 

Read more: Machh tragedy: Ready to visit Quetta today, but slain miners need to be buried first, PM says 

"This is the height of insensitivity, you are responsible for 220mn people," said Maryam Nawaz in her message to the prime minister, speaking to Geo News. "If you refer to the cries of the people as blackmail, then you should be ashamed of yourself," she added. 

The PML-N vice president was referring to the prime minister's statement from earlier in the day when he said that making the burial [of the dead] conditional on the prime minister's visit was not appropriate. 

"This is akin to blackmailing the prime minister," he had said. 

The Hazaras have refused to bury 11 slain coal miners who were shot dead in cold blood last week at Machh by unidentified assailants. Protest sit-ins have taken place in various parts of the country over the tragedy. 

Maryam lamented that the Hazaras were sitting out in the open, in the freezing temperature, with the bodies of their loved ones and the prime minister had yet not visited the area. 

Read more: After Machh tragedy, Karachi's Hazaras fear for their safety as well

"They are asking you to come and place your hand over their heads," she said, referring to the bereaved families. "They are asking for some guarantees [from PM Imran Khan] and will bury the dead after that," added the PML-N leader. 

Maryam said that visiting the grieving families was the prime minister's obligation and "he will have to do this". 

"You have time to meet Turkish dramas and meet actors," she said in reference to the prime minister's meeting with the founding team of the Turkish hit TV series Ertugrul from the previous day. "You have time to play with your dogs but not place your hand over the heads of the oppressed," she added.

Machh tragedy: Ready to visit Quetta today, but slain miners need to be buried first, PM says

Speaking earlier at a ceremony, the prime minister had said that he would go to Quetta today if the Hazaras buried the slain coal miners. 

The premier had said he wanted to clear his position on the matter.

"All the demands put forth by the protesters have been accepted; therefore, making the burial [of the dead] conditional on the prime minister's visit is not appropriate," he was quoted as saying by Geo News.

"This is akin to blackmailing the prime minister," he had said.

He said that when the 11 coal miners were killed in Machh, he first sent Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed to Quetta and then two federal ministers to assure the Hazara community that the government stood behind them.

"I assured them that they would be compensated and looked after as the affected families have lost their breadwinners," said PM Imran Khan. 

The premier had said the government then accepted all demands put forth by the Hazara protestors, but they are adamant that they would not bury the dead until the prime minister visits Quetta.

"Nowhere in the world can you blackmail a prime minister like this," PM Imran Khan had said. "Because then [it opens the door for] every crook to stage a sit-in and demand corruption cases against them be withdrawn. This is very important."

"The Hazara community has faced the most cruelty," the premier had said. "They have been persecuted in ways no other [community] has been persecuted. I have visited them and seen their fear."