LAHORE – Protesters have blocked access to Punjab capital by the Motorway at different points, as protests and sit-ins against the Machh tragedy continue across the country against the Machh killings.
Protesters have staged sit-ins at Imamia colony to GT Road, Ferozpur Road, Chungi Amar Sadhu, Thokar Niaz Beg, Mall Road (Alhamra to Governor House up to Davis road/Sarwar Road intersection), and Charring Cross – Mall Road.
#JusticeForHazaraCommunity protest in lahore pic.twitter.com/oMaCNEdxi2
— Ali Asghar (@muhamma37366056) January 8, 2021
Meanwhile in Karachi, five motorcycles were set ablaze as sporadic clashes break out between protesters holding sit-ins in around 30different areas of the city.
According to police, some commuters trying to reach Shahrah-e-Faisal using sidewalks and alleys exchanged hot words and blows with protesters.
Karachi traffic police, in a statement, have advised citizens to take alternative routes and avoid areas including Numaish to Nawai-e-Waqt, Kamran Chowrangi, Airport to Natha Khan, Shah Faisal Colony, Johar Mor to Johar Chowrangi, Stargate, and Safoora Chowrangi among others.
https://twitter.com/Tooba_Sd/status/1346956032749129729
The demonstrations in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and Gilgit-Baltistan are being held in solidarity with the thousands of Hazaras, including women and children, staging a sit-in at the Western Bypass in extremely cold weather for the last six days against the execution of 10 coal miners in Machh.
The Hazara community has been protesting since Sunday, after 10 miners were massacred by terrorists near a coal field in Balochistan’s Machh town, and have refused to bury their loved ones until the prime minister goes to meet them.
PM Imran Khan, on the other hand, during a ceremony today to launch Special Technology Zones Authority in Islamabad today, had said: “One does not blackmail the prime minister of any country this way.”
