KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan announced during his trip to Quetta on Saturday that his government was planning to set up a new security cell that would be responsible for providing protection to the minority Hazara community.
Khan made the statement while interacting with the grieving relatives of 11 Shia Hazara coal miners who were killed in a sectarian attack by Daesh on January 3.
"I was constantly in touch with our intelligence agencies and discovered that there are about 35 to 40 people who were committing such acts of terror," he said. "We have developed a whole program [to counter such incidents] and are making a new security cell that will be responsible for providing you full protection."
He added that he knew how members of the Hazara community were targeted in the past, adding that his administration would forcefully go after the perpetrators of the recent attack.
"Our intelligence agencies informed us in March that India was planning to instigate trouble in Pakistan by assassinating leaders of Shias and Sunnis," Khan continued. "I must also applaud the Inter-Services Intelligence [Pakistan’s spy agency] for preempting at least three or four assassination plots. So, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this tragedy was also part of the bigger [geopolitical] game."
Thousands of Shia Hazaras in southwestern Balochistan had blockaded a highway in Quetta with the bodies of the coal miners after last week's sectarian, saying they would not withdraw or bury the deceased until Khan met them and the killers were brought to justice.
A controversy erupted on Friday, however, when the prime minister suggested that the mourners were "blackmailing" him by not burying their dead.
"This is not the first time our community has been targeted," a grieving Hazara woman told him while explaining why the protesters were insisting on meeting with him. "Several ministers also visited us in the past and promised to offer us protection. That's why you were our only hope."
Khan said that his mission was not just to unite people in Pakistan but also address sectarian divisions within the Muslim world.
"Don't worry, we will fully take care of you," he told a member of Hazara community who said that her only brother, who took care of the whole family, had been killed in the incident.
The prime minister, who landed in Quetta on Saturday after the burials of the coal miners, assured the families of the slain workers that his government would fully implement its written agreement with them and provide full protection to their community.
Earlier on Friday, protesters and grieving families were met by two federal ministers and provincial chief minister after the agitation worsened following the Prime Minister's controversial words.
Speaking to the media after talks with the protesters, the government's chief negotiator, Ali Haider Zaidi, said that a written agreement had been struck between the Hazara community and the government for the first time.
According to the agreement, a copy of which is available with Arab News, a high-level commission will investigate the incident and the outcomes of other investigations of militant acts against the Shia Hazara community in the last 22 years.
The agreement says the commission will expedite the punishment/execution of those arrested "in acts of terrorism" against the Hazara Shia community, and would "probe" the community's missing persons cases.
The government will provide Rs. 1.5 million ($9,360) as monetary compensation to the family of each slain person and "initiate process for job employment" to the next of kin of the slain.
The agreement also says that the government of Balochistan and other law enforcement agencies would chalk out a "comprehensive security strategy" for highways and for mines belonging to the Hazara Shia community.
Under the agreement, a special committee will be formed to address the grievances of the Hazara community in the issuance of national identity cards and passports.
Federal Maritime Minister Ali Zaidi, Special Assistant to the PM Zulfi Bukhari, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, Provincial Home Minister Mir Zia Langu and other provincial ministers and civil society leaders were present during funeral prayers offered in Quetta on Saturday, alongside thousands of other attendees.
Special security cell to provide protection to minority Hazara community — PM Khan
https://arab.news/4zv8y
Special security cell to provide protection to minority Hazara community — PM Khan
- The prime minister blames India for the killing of Hazara coal miners, describing the tragedy as 'part of the bigger game'
- Khan promises to forcefully go after the perpetrators of the recent anti-Hazara attack and bring them to justice
Pakistan reviews austerity measures amid Middle East crisis, urges strict nationwide implementation
- Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar chairs review meeting of austerity steps
- Officials briefed on salary cuts, school closures, four‑day week, petrol conservation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government on Wednesday assessed progress on a sweeping set of austerity measures introduced to mitigate the country’s economic strain from sharply rising global oil prices and supply disruptions linked to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week announced a series of austerity steps, including a four‑day work week for government offices, requiring 50 percent of staff to work from home, cutting fuel allowances for official vehicles by half, grounding up to 60 percent of the government fleet and closing all schools for two weeks to conserve fuel amid the global oil crisis.
The measures were unveiled in response to global oil market volatility triggered by the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which has disrupted supply routes such as the Strait of Hormuz and pushed crude prices sharply higher, straining Pakistan’s heavily import‑dependent energy sector.
“The meeting stressed the importance of strict and transparent adherence to the austerity measures, promoting fiscal responsibility and prudent use of public resources,” Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said in a statement.
He was chairing a meeting of the Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures, constituted under the directions of the PM, bringing together federal and provincial officials to review execution of the broad cost‑cutting plan.
Dar emphasized the government’s commitment to enforcing the PM’s austerity steps nationwide. The committee’s review also covered reductions in departmental expenditure, deductions from salaries of senior officials earning over Rs. 300,000 ($1,120), and coordination with provincial administrations to ensure uniform implementation of the plan.
Participants at the meeting reiterated that all ministries and divisions must continue strict monitoring and reporting, with transparent oversight mechanisms, as Pakistan navigates the economic pressures from the prolonged Middle East crisis and its fallout on global energy and trade markets.
