Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Opposition members call for Governor's Rule in Balochistan
05 October, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Federal ministers, PPP parliamentarians and opposition members unleashed severe criticism on the government for the continuous killing of members of the Hazara Shia community in Balochistan, demanding the imposition of governor's rule in the province and asking the federal government to resign.
Amidst the ruckus, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who arrived late, did not utter a single word on the issue of the massacre of Shias in Balochistan. Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Riaz Pirzada who hails from PML-Q, PPP members Farahnaz Isphahani, Nadeem Afzal Chan, Nasir Ali Shah, Hamid Saeed Kazmi and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq (PML-N) and Bushra Gohar (ANP) grilled the federal and provincial governments and official agencies for their failure to control the target killing of Shias in Balochistan.
Fireworks began when PML-Q's Amir Muqaam Shamla said he had handed his resignation as a member of the federal cabinet to his party parliamentary leader and the prime minister (then present in the house) but it had not been accepted. He also demanded shifting his seat from the treasury to the opposition benches.
Federal Minister Riaz Pirzada said governor's rule should be imposed in Balochistan and Sindh because of the failure to control target killings and that the federal government should also resign if it could not arrest the deteriorating law and order situation.
"All security and intelligence agencies and institutions have failed to control the situation and arrest the culprits," said Pirzada. "The principle of self-accountability demands that the federal and provincial governments quit. Why are they not taking any concrete action against extremist and terrorist organisations in Balochistan and Punjab?" he said.
Riaz Pirzada, while demanding that the federal government resign, did not offer his own resignation as a cabinet member. Earlier, PPP member Farahnaz raised the issue of the Hazaras and said members of the community were being constantly targeted in Balochistan. She also asked the interior minister to take cognisance of the situation so that the killing of the innocent community could be stopped. Farahnaz recalled that 30 Shia devotees had been killed just a few days ago. "What are the Balochistan governor and chief minister doing in Islamabad? They should go to Balochistan and control the situation there," she said.
PPP parliamentarian Nasir Ali Shah who also hails from the Shia community, said he would not sit in the house and would continue to stage a protest in front of the Parliament House till governor's rule was imposed in Balochistan. "There is no need to constitute any commission; just impose governor's rule in the province," Nasir Shah said, before walking out of the house.
He also questioned why the provincial government, agencies and police had not been able to stop target killings and arrest killers. "There is no use of a government which cannot ensure the protection to the masses," he said. PPP's Nadeem Afzal Chan said the prime minister and the interior minister would have to explain the killing the Shia community in Balochistan. He warned the government to stop the target killings of Shias, otherwise they would have to turn to another country. "Arrest the situation before they look to some other country to help them deal with their grievances," he said.
An independent member from Balochistan, advocate Usman, alleged that some members of the Balochistan cabinet, MPAs and government agencies were involved in target killings. "Some Balochistan ministers and members of the provincial assembly are also involved in criminal acts of murder, robberies and kidnapping for ransom as also mentioned in the commission's report," he said, adding that target killers always took refugee in a circuit house and another building near the residence of FC Commandant Khazdar after committing crimes.
ANP's Bushra Gohar said some heads must roll and the Balohchistan governor and chief minister should resign and admit their failures.
PML-N's Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said the continuous killing of members of the Shia community in Balochistan had exposed that the federal and provincial governments had no writ in the province. "We do not believe in the assurances of Rehman Malik and the government which cannot expose and arrest the assassins of their chairperson Benazir Bhutto," he said.
Awais Leghari and Asiya Nasir also criticised the federal and provincial governments. "We will block the main highway from Punjab to Balochistan if the government does not stop the suspension of electricity to Dera Ghazi Khan from the grid station in Balochistan by some criminals there," said Leghari. He added that advocate Usman was right in saying that some Balochistan ministers and members were involved in killings and kidnapping for ransom cases.
End.
PAK TRIBUNE
ISLAMABAD: Federal ministers, PPP parliamentarians and opposition members unleashed severe criticism on the government for the continuous killing of members of the Hazara Shia community in Balochistan, demanding the imposition of governor's rule in the province and asking the federal government to resign.
Amidst the ruckus, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who arrived late, did not utter a single word on the issue of the massacre of Shias in Balochistan. Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Riaz Pirzada who hails from PML-Q, PPP members Farahnaz Isphahani, Nadeem Afzal Chan, Nasir Ali Shah, Hamid Saeed Kazmi and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq (PML-N) and Bushra Gohar (ANP) grilled the federal and provincial governments and official agencies for their failure to control the target killing of Shias in Balochistan.
Fireworks began when PML-Q's Amir Muqaam Shamla said he had handed his resignation as a member of the federal cabinet to his party parliamentary leader and the prime minister (then present in the house) but it had not been accepted. He also demanded shifting his seat from the treasury to the opposition benches.
Federal Minister Riaz Pirzada said governor's rule should be imposed in Balochistan and Sindh because of the failure to control target killings and that the federal government should also resign if it could not arrest the deteriorating law and order situation.
"All security and intelligence agencies and institutions have failed to control the situation and arrest the culprits," said Pirzada. "The principle of self-accountability demands that the federal and provincial governments quit. Why are they not taking any concrete action against extremist and terrorist organisations in Balochistan and Punjab?" he said.
Riaz Pirzada, while demanding that the federal government resign, did not offer his own resignation as a cabinet member. Earlier, PPP member Farahnaz raised the issue of the Hazaras and said members of the community were being constantly targeted in Balochistan. She also asked the interior minister to take cognisance of the situation so that the killing of the innocent community could be stopped. Farahnaz recalled that 30 Shia devotees had been killed just a few days ago. "What are the Balochistan governor and chief minister doing in Islamabad? They should go to Balochistan and control the situation there," she said.
PPP parliamentarian Nasir Ali Shah who also hails from the Shia community, said he would not sit in the house and would continue to stage a protest in front of the Parliament House till governor's rule was imposed in Balochistan. "There is no need to constitute any commission; just impose governor's rule in the province," Nasir Shah said, before walking out of the house.
He also questioned why the provincial government, agencies and police had not been able to stop target killings and arrest killers. "There is no use of a government which cannot ensure the protection to the masses," he said. PPP's Nadeem Afzal Chan said the prime minister and the interior minister would have to explain the killing the Shia community in Balochistan. He warned the government to stop the target killings of Shias, otherwise they would have to turn to another country. "Arrest the situation before they look to some other country to help them deal with their grievances," he said.
An independent member from Balochistan, advocate Usman, alleged that some members of the Balochistan cabinet, MPAs and government agencies were involved in target killings. "Some Balochistan ministers and members of the provincial assembly are also involved in criminal acts of murder, robberies and kidnapping for ransom as also mentioned in the commission's report," he said, adding that target killers always took refugee in a circuit house and another building near the residence of FC Commandant Khazdar after committing crimes.
ANP's Bushra Gohar said some heads must roll and the Balohchistan governor and chief minister should resign and admit their failures.
PML-N's Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said the continuous killing of members of the Shia community in Balochistan had exposed that the federal and provincial governments had no writ in the province. "We do not believe in the assurances of Rehman Malik and the government which cannot expose and arrest the assassins of their chairperson Benazir Bhutto," he said.
Awais Leghari and Asiya Nasir also criticised the federal and provincial governments. "We will block the main highway from Punjab to Balochistan if the government does not stop the suspension of electricity to Dera Ghazi Khan from the grid station in Balochistan by some criminals there," said Leghari. He added that advocate Usman was right in saying that some Balochistan ministers and members were involved in killings and kidnapping for ransom cases.
End.
PAK TRIBUNE
From our Hazara peoples incarcerated in SCHERGER.
Wed 05 Oct 2011
By Gerry Georgatos
Global/International
From:
Subject: stop systematic genocide of Hazaras
To: "Gerry Georgatos"
Received: Wednesday, 5 October, 2011, 12:15 PM
STOP SYSTEMATIC GENOCIDE OF HAZARAS
Unfortunatly after terrible terrorist attack at EID UL FITR (31/08/2011)in Quetta pakistan,our tears not yet become dry that another terror attack happened by cruel and ruthless terrorist at(20/092011) even seperate Hazaras passenger from others,and pull off them & shot fire on their heads & killed 29 inocent HAZARAS.
3 days after this incident,...another incide...nt happened at (23/9/2011)they killed 3 more inocent HAZARA while they were going for work.
Concequently after 11 days(yesterday) (4/10/2011)the same terrorist group killed 14 inocent HAZARAS.
If we see carefully to this these four unhumalitate incident that happened within a month,it makes transparent that we (HAZARAS)are not only facing an extemist ignorance group ever we face the agencies wich orginise and work on kiling of inocent HAZARAS.
We all HAZARA asylum sekers of Scherger IDC QLD Australia condumn this unhumalitate incidents on HAZARAS and we demand followings;
(1)Government of pakistan should immdiatley control the genocide of HAZARAS & give them protection.
(2)on the behind of this sectrian group should be recognized retilate and punished them.
(3)We kindly appeal from UN & all hummaintarian groups & all democratical countries to pressuries on the government of pakistan to control the genocide of HAZARAS & give them justice.
(4)We appeal from government of Australia and all humanitarian groups of Australia as a host country that condem terrorist attacks against inocent HAZARAS & pressurised the government of pakistan should take action against the systametic genocide of HAZARAS &protect the inocent HAZARA people.
HAZARA ASYLUM SEEKERS OF SCHERGER IDC
HI SIR
i hope ur fine.sir scherger Hazara asylum seeker held a peacefullprotest cz of target killing of hazaras.plz send this to all world media that what is going on inocent Hazaras.
Independent Media Center Australia
By Gerry Georgatos
Global/International
From:
Subject: stop systematic genocide of Hazaras
To: "Gerry Georgatos"
Received: Wednesday, 5 October, 2011, 12:15 PM
STOP SYSTEMATIC GENOCIDE OF HAZARAS
Unfortunatly after terrible terrorist attack at EID UL FITR (31/08/2011)in Quetta pakistan,our tears not yet become dry that another terror attack happened by cruel and ruthless terrorist at(20/092011) even seperate Hazaras passenger from others,and pull off them & shot fire on their heads & killed 29 inocent HAZARAS.
3 days after this incident,...another incide...nt happened at (23/9/2011)they killed 3 more inocent HAZARA while they were going for work.
Concequently after 11 days(yesterday) (4/10/2011)the same terrorist group killed 14 inocent HAZARAS.
If we see carefully to this these four unhumalitate incident that happened within a month,it makes transparent that we (HAZARAS)are not only facing an extemist ignorance group ever we face the agencies wich orginise and work on kiling of inocent HAZARAS.
We all HAZARA asylum sekers of Scherger IDC QLD Australia condumn this unhumalitate incidents on HAZARAS and we demand followings;
(1)Government of pakistan should immdiatley control the genocide of HAZARAS & give them protection.
(2)on the behind of this sectrian group should be recognized retilate and punished them.
(3)We kindly appeal from UN & all hummaintarian groups & all democratical countries to pressuries on the government of pakistan to control the genocide of HAZARAS & give them justice.
(4)We appeal from government of Australia and all humanitarian groups of Australia as a host country that condem terrorist attacks against inocent HAZARAS & pressurised the government of pakistan should take action against the systametic genocide of HAZARAS &protect the inocent HAZARA people.
HAZARA ASYLUM SEEKERS OF SCHERGER IDC
HI SIR
i hope ur fine.sir scherger Hazara asylum seeker held a peacefullprotest cz of target killing of hazaras.plz send this to all world media that what is going on inocent Hazaras.
Independent Media Center Australia
Who are the Hazara?
By Imran Yusuf
Published: October 5, 2011
Pakistani Shiite Muslims mourn next to coffins of their community members during a funeral ceremony in Quetta on October 4, 2011. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
There are over 900,000 Hazara living in Pakistan, a figure larger than the population of Washington DC. Yet this is a vulnerable community, besieged by anti-Shia violence on one side and drawing suspicion and indifference in equal measure on the other.
Old news, a Hazara might say, as a brief look at the community’s past reveals a tradition of persecution, of which yesterday’s attack in Quetta is but the latest atrocity.
The origins of the Hazara are disputed, though there are three primary theories. The Hazara could be of Turko-Mongol ancestry, descendants of an occupying army left in Afghanistan by Genghis Khan. A second theory goes back two millennia to the Kushan Dynasty, when Bamiyan in Afghanistan – home to the large statues blown up by the Taliban – was a centre of Buddhist civilisation. Subscribers to this idea point to the similar facial structure of the Hazaras with those of Buddhist murals and statues in the region.
The most widely-accepted theory is something of a compromise: that the Hazara are mixed-race. Certain Mongol tribes did travel to eastern Persia and what is modern-day Afghanistan, putting down roots and integrating with the indigenous community. This group then formed their own community which became the Hazara, with their distinctive facial features, sometimes termed Mongoloid, which bear the origins of their central Asian ancestry.
Either way the Hazara settled in central Afghanistan, though in the mid-19th Century their brutal history of persecution began when more than half their population was killed or forced into exile.
The Pashtun Amir Abdul Rehman, who the British termed Afghanistan’s Iron Amir during the Raj, invaded the Hazara homeland in the country’s central highlands, forcing them to give up land, and pushing many into exile in Balochistan.
There was already Hazara movement into British India by this point, with migrants working in labour-intensity jobs such as mining. Some Hazaras also came to Quetta during the 19th Century to work on the construction of Indian railways. However, the majority were forced to leave by Rehman’s ethnic cleansing.
But the Hazaras’ history is not exclusively one of victimhood. In 1907 British officer Colonel Claude Jacob raised a regiment made up solely of Hazaras, who had developed a reputation for martial strength, perhaps based on a romanticisation of their possible lineage to Genghis Khan.
The Hazaras who did not make the military cut found jobs as unskilled labourers, for despite their knowledge of agriculture, they owned no land in their new territory.
Quetta’s 1935 earthquake actually helped the Hazara community in some ways. The migration away from the city after the disaster opened up positions in semi-skilled labour, which led some Hazaras to become shopkeepers, tailors and mechanics.
The Second World War saw more Hazaras enlisted by the British Indian Army. Some thrived: one of them was General Musa Khan, who led Pakistan in the 1965 war against India.
Since Partition, however, the Hazaras have remained an underprivileged community. Currently between 500,000 and 600,000 live in Quetta, spread over two slums in the east and west of the city. A large proportion of their income is remittance payments from Iran, the Gulf, Europe and Australia.
Among the Hazara in Quetta are tens of thousands of new migrants escaping the wrath of the Taliban. Persecution of Hazaras persists in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have shown no let-up in their attack on Shias, burning villages and kidnapping community members, forcing further emigration into Pakistan.
In Pakistan, the sectarian violence also has a geopolitical context, with a deeply-embedded belief that the Hazara receive Iranian support. General Zia allowed state actors to support anti-Hazara groups for this reason. As mentioned by columnist Ejaz Haider in this newspaper recently, the view of the Hazara as Iranian proxies still persists in Balochistan.
Four days ago, rallies in Australia, the US, the UK, Austria, Norway, Denmark and Canada marked an international day of protest against the unending wave of attacks on Hazaras in Pakistan. The call has evidently not been heard. Indeed, approximately 250 Hazara citizens of Pakistan have been killed in the past three years.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2011.
Published: October 5, 2011
KARACHI:
There are over 900,000 Hazara living in Pakistan, a figure larger than the population of Washington DC. Yet this is a vulnerable community, besieged by anti-Shia violence on one side and drawing suspicion and indifference in equal measure on the other.
Old news, a Hazara might say, as a brief look at the community’s past reveals a tradition of persecution, of which yesterday’s attack in Quetta is but the latest atrocity.
The origins of the Hazara are disputed, though there are three primary theories. The Hazara could be of Turko-Mongol ancestry, descendants of an occupying army left in Afghanistan by Genghis Khan. A second theory goes back two millennia to the Kushan Dynasty, when Bamiyan in Afghanistan – home to the large statues blown up by the Taliban – was a centre of Buddhist civilisation. Subscribers to this idea point to the similar facial structure of the Hazaras with those of Buddhist murals and statues in the region.
The most widely-accepted theory is something of a compromise: that the Hazara are mixed-race. Certain Mongol tribes did travel to eastern Persia and what is modern-day Afghanistan, putting down roots and integrating with the indigenous community. This group then formed their own community which became the Hazara, with their distinctive facial features, sometimes termed Mongoloid, which bear the origins of their central Asian ancestry.
Either way the Hazara settled in central Afghanistan, though in the mid-19th Century their brutal history of persecution began when more than half their population was killed or forced into exile.
The Pashtun Amir Abdul Rehman, who the British termed Afghanistan’s Iron Amir during the Raj, invaded the Hazara homeland in the country’s central highlands, forcing them to give up land, and pushing many into exile in Balochistan.
There was already Hazara movement into British India by this point, with migrants working in labour-intensity jobs such as mining. Some Hazaras also came to Quetta during the 19th Century to work on the construction of Indian railways. However, the majority were forced to leave by Rehman’s ethnic cleansing.
But the Hazaras’ history is not exclusively one of victimhood. In 1907 British officer Colonel Claude Jacob raised a regiment made up solely of Hazaras, who had developed a reputation for martial strength, perhaps based on a romanticisation of their possible lineage to Genghis Khan.
The Hazaras who did not make the military cut found jobs as unskilled labourers, for despite their knowledge of agriculture, they owned no land in their new territory.
Quetta’s 1935 earthquake actually helped the Hazara community in some ways. The migration away from the city after the disaster opened up positions in semi-skilled labour, which led some Hazaras to become shopkeepers, tailors and mechanics.
The Second World War saw more Hazaras enlisted by the British Indian Army. Some thrived: one of them was General Musa Khan, who led Pakistan in the 1965 war against India.
Since Partition, however, the Hazaras have remained an underprivileged community. Currently between 500,000 and 600,000 live in Quetta, spread over two slums in the east and west of the city. A large proportion of their income is remittance payments from Iran, the Gulf, Europe and Australia.
Among the Hazara in Quetta are tens of thousands of new migrants escaping the wrath of the Taliban. Persecution of Hazaras persists in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have shown no let-up in their attack on Shias, burning villages and kidnapping community members, forcing further emigration into Pakistan.
In Pakistan, the sectarian violence also has a geopolitical context, with a deeply-embedded belief that the Hazara receive Iranian support. General Zia allowed state actors to support anti-Hazara groups for this reason. As mentioned by columnist Ejaz Haider in this newspaper recently, the view of the Hazara as Iranian proxies still persists in Balochistan.
Four days ago, rallies in Australia, the US, the UK, Austria, Norway, Denmark and Canada marked an international day of protest against the unending wave of attacks on Hazaras in Pakistan. The call has evidently not been heard. Indeed, approximately 250 Hazara citizens of Pakistan have been killed in the past three years.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2011.
حکومت شیعہ مسلمانوں کا دفاع کرے: واچ
حکومت بلوچستان کے شیعہ مسلمانوں کے تحفظ کو یقینی بنائے
انسانی حقوق کے ادارے ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے حکومتِ پاکستان سے مطالبہ کیا ہے کہ وہ بلوچستان کے شیعہ مسلمانوں کے تحفظ کو یقینی بنائے۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے اپنےایک بیان میں کہا ہے کہ سال دو ہزارگیارہ میں پاکستان میں شیعہ مسلمانوں پر سولہ حملے کیےگئے۔ بیان میں کہاگیا کہ حکومت کا فرض ہے کہ وہ اس گھناونے عمل میں ملوث گروہوں کے خلاف کارروائی کرے۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ کےایشیا ڈائریکٹر بریڈ ایڈم نے کہا کہ ایسےگھناونے فعل میں ملوث شدت پسند تنظیمیں پاکستان کے ایسے علاقوں میں بلاخوف کارروائیاں جاری رکھے ہوئے ہیں جہاں حکومتی عملداری قائم ہے۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے کہا کہ حالیہ دنوں میں بلوچستان کےعام شیعہ مسلمانوں کو جس انداز میں نشانہ بنایاگیا ہے وہ اپنے شہریوں کو تحفظ دینے کے حکومتی عزم پر سوالیہ نشان ہیں۔
انہوں نےکہا کہ لشکر جھنگوی جیسی شدت پسند تنظیمیں پنجاب کے علاقوں اور کراچی میں بلاخوف اپنی کاررائیاں جاری رکھے ہوئے ہیں۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے کہا کہ جب شدت پسند تنظیمیں بلوچستان میں شیعہ آبادی کے خلاف کارروائیاں کرتی ہیں تو حکومتی ادارے ان کے خلاف کوئی کارروائی نہیں کرتے بلکہ اپنا منہ دوسری جانب پھیر لیتے ہیں۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے کہا کہ بعض شدت پسند تنظیمیں بلوچستان میں پاکستانی فوج، انٹیلیجنس اداروں اور فرنٹیئر کور کے اتحادی تصور کی جاتی ہیں۔ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے پاکستان فوج کو مشورہ دیا کہ وہ بلوچستان میں اپنے سیاسی مخالفین کےحقوق پامال کرنے کی بجائے کمزور گروہوں کی حفاظت کو یقینی بنائے۔
واچ نےکہا ہے کہ پاکستان کی وفاقی اور صوبائی حکومت کو بلوچستان میں فوج اور فرنٹئیر کو ہدایت جاری کرنی چاہیے کہ شدت پسندوں کے نشانے پر کمزور گروہوں کے تحفظ کو یقینی بنائے۔
BBC URDU
انسانی حقوق کے ادارے ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے حکومتِ پاکستان سے مطالبہ کیا ہے کہ وہ بلوچستان کے شیعہ مسلمانوں کے تحفظ کو یقینی بنائے۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے اپنےایک بیان میں کہا ہے کہ سال دو ہزارگیارہ میں پاکستان میں شیعہ مسلمانوں پر سولہ حملے کیےگئے۔ بیان میں کہاگیا کہ حکومت کا فرض ہے کہ وہ اس گھناونے عمل میں ملوث گروہوں کے خلاف کارروائی کرے۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ کےایشیا ڈائریکٹر بریڈ ایڈم نے کہا کہ ایسےگھناونے فعل میں ملوث شدت پسند تنظیمیں پاکستان کے ایسے علاقوں میں بلاخوف کارروائیاں جاری رکھے ہوئے ہیں جہاں حکومتی عملداری قائم ہے۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے کہا کہ حالیہ دنوں میں بلوچستان کےعام شیعہ مسلمانوں کو جس انداز میں نشانہ بنایاگیا ہے وہ اپنے شہریوں کو تحفظ دینے کے حکومتی عزم پر سوالیہ نشان ہیں۔
انہوں نےکہا کہ لشکر جھنگوی جیسی شدت پسند تنظیمیں پنجاب کے علاقوں اور کراچی میں بلاخوف اپنی کاررائیاں جاری رکھے ہوئے ہیں۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے کہا کہ جب شدت پسند تنظیمیں بلوچستان میں شیعہ آبادی کے خلاف کارروائیاں کرتی ہیں تو حکومتی ادارے ان کے خلاف کوئی کارروائی نہیں کرتے بلکہ اپنا منہ دوسری جانب پھیر لیتے ہیں۔
ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے کہا کہ بعض شدت پسند تنظیمیں بلوچستان میں پاکستانی فوج، انٹیلیجنس اداروں اور فرنٹیئر کور کے اتحادی تصور کی جاتی ہیں۔ہیومن رائٹس واچ نے پاکستان فوج کو مشورہ دیا کہ وہ بلوچستان میں اپنے سیاسی مخالفین کےحقوق پامال کرنے کی بجائے کمزور گروہوں کی حفاظت کو یقینی بنائے۔
واچ نےکہا ہے کہ پاکستان کی وفاقی اور صوبائی حکومت کو بلوچستان میں فوج اور فرنٹئیر کو ہدایت جاری کرنی چاہیے کہ شدت پسندوں کے نشانے پر کمزور گروہوں کے تحفظ کو یقینی بنائے۔
BBC URDU
Hazara’s killings: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan urges Zardari & Gillani to step in
The HRCP has called upon President Zardari and Prime Minister Gillani to take immediate, direct and personal initiative to prevent the killing of members of the Hazara
Lahore, October 05: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called upon President Zardari and Prime Minister Gillani to take immediate, direct and personal initiative to prevent the killing of members of the Hazara community in Quetta and ensure action against all those who have failed to protect citizens’ lives.
After emphasizing the most heinous nature of the recent wave of Hazaras’ killing in her communication to the President and the Prime Minister, HRCP chairperson Zohra Yusuf has said:
“These killings must cause your government serious anxiety for a number of reasons. First, these killings and the failure of the administration to stem the odious tide or to apprehend the culprits reveal a state of lawlessness no civilised government can countenance. That this is happening in a city swarming with Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel can only be attributed to the federal authority’s failure to exercise due control.
“Secondly, the fact that victims are members of a religious sect that is in a minority is causing alarm. Failure to protect the lives and property and basic freedoms of the Hazara people will have serious law and order implications across the country and make Pakistan a pariah in the comity of nations.
“Finally, whatever their faith and calling the Hazaras are as honourable citizens of Pakistan as anyone else and the protection of their lives and liberty is a duty for which you will be held accountable.
“On behalf of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan I therefore call upon you to personally intervene in the situation, take all necessary steps to protect the lives and all other rights of the Hazaras, including issuance of appropriate directives / requests to the Balochistan government and the security agencies concerned. All those who have failed to fulfil their duty to protect the people’s lives in Balochistan have forfeited their right to hold their positions and all of them should be made to pay for their incompetence and insensitively to the killing of innocent citizens and the sufferings of their families.”
Zohra Yusuf
Chairperson
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
Lahore, October 05: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called upon President Zardari and Prime Minister Gillani to take immediate, direct and personal initiative to prevent the killing of members of the Hazara community in Quetta and ensure action against all those who have failed to protect citizens’ lives.
After emphasizing the most heinous nature of the recent wave of Hazaras’ killing in her communication to the President and the Prime Minister, HRCP chairperson Zohra Yusuf has said:
“These killings must cause your government serious anxiety for a number of reasons. First, these killings and the failure of the administration to stem the odious tide or to apprehend the culprits reveal a state of lawlessness no civilised government can countenance. That this is happening in a city swarming with Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel can only be attributed to the federal authority’s failure to exercise due control.
“Secondly, the fact that victims are members of a religious sect that is in a minority is causing alarm. Failure to protect the lives and property and basic freedoms of the Hazara people will have serious law and order implications across the country and make Pakistan a pariah in the comity of nations.
“Finally, whatever their faith and calling the Hazaras are as honourable citizens of Pakistan as anyone else and the protection of their lives and liberty is a duty for which you will be held accountable.
“On behalf of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan I therefore call upon you to personally intervene in the situation, take all necessary steps to protect the lives and all other rights of the Hazaras, including issuance of appropriate directives / requests to the Balochistan government and the security agencies concerned. All those who have failed to fulfil their duty to protect the people’s lives in Balochistan have forfeited their right to hold their positions and all of them should be made to pay for their incompetence and insensitively to the killing of innocent citizens and the sufferings of their families.”
Zohra Yusuf
Chairperson
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
Govt under fire: Outrage over Hazara killings in the National Assembly By Zia Khan
Published: October 5, 2011
ANP lawmaker calls on the interior minister, Balochistan chief minister to resign.
ISLAMABAD:
Already eliciting scathing criticism for its inability to solve the energy crisis, the government faced another line of attack on Tuesday as members of the National Assembly, including some from the ruling alliance, demanded the resignations of cabinet members and other senior officials for their failure to curb sectarian killings in Balochistan.
At least 14 people of the Hazara community – an ethnic minority that follows Shia Islam – were gunned down outside Quetta early on Tuesday morning in the second such incident within a fortnight.
Anger over the killings dominated proceedings of the lower house of Parliament, even overshadowing what was expected to be another day of criticism of the government over its handling of the energy crisis and the floods in Sindh.
Only two speeches were made on the floor of the assembly about the energy crisis, which were then followed by a walkout by members of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The onslaught against the government was led by one of its own – Nasir Ali Shah, of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, himself an ethnic Hazara representing Quetta. He said that the brutal murder of over a dozen men from the community reflected a complete collapse of the government’s law enforcing machinery in the heart of the province.
Shah called for the resignations of Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani and went on to call for governor’s rule in the province.
“Hazara people are being targeted just because of their religious beliefs. Where is the government, where are the agencies? Aren’t they Pakistanis?” Shah asked before he walked out of the house.
Nasir’s demand was vehemently backed by Pakistan Muslim League-Q’s Riaz Hussain Pirzada who went a step even further and asked the federal government and those of Balochistan and Sindh to resign for their failure to control killings.
“Resign if you can’t do better,” Pirzada advised the government in what appeared to be an indication of changes that might emerge in Pakistan’s politics in weeks to come.
Bushra Gohar of the Awami National Party (ANP) said somebody had to take responsibility for failing to protect minorities and Raisani and Malik should have enough moral courage to resign. PPP member Nadeem Afzal Gondal sought an explanation from both Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Rehman Malik over the killings of Shias.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2011.
ISLAMABAD:
Already eliciting scathing criticism for its inability to solve the energy crisis, the government faced another line of attack on Tuesday as members of the National Assembly, including some from the ruling alliance, demanded the resignations of cabinet members and other senior officials for their failure to curb sectarian killings in Balochistan.
At least 14 people of the Hazara community – an ethnic minority that follows Shia Islam – were gunned down outside Quetta early on Tuesday morning in the second such incident within a fortnight.
Anger over the killings dominated proceedings of the lower house of Parliament, even overshadowing what was expected to be another day of criticism of the government over its handling of the energy crisis and the floods in Sindh.
Only two speeches were made on the floor of the assembly about the energy crisis, which were then followed by a walkout by members of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The onslaught against the government was led by one of its own – Nasir Ali Shah, of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, himself an ethnic Hazara representing Quetta. He said that the brutal murder of over a dozen men from the community reflected a complete collapse of the government’s law enforcing machinery in the heart of the province.
Shah called for the resignations of Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani and went on to call for governor’s rule in the province.
“Hazara people are being targeted just because of their religious beliefs. Where is the government, where are the agencies? Aren’t they Pakistanis?” Shah asked before he walked out of the house.
Nasir’s demand was vehemently backed by Pakistan Muslim League-Q’s Riaz Hussain Pirzada who went a step even further and asked the federal government and those of Balochistan and Sindh to resign for their failure to control killings.
“Resign if you can’t do better,” Pirzada advised the government in what appeared to be an indication of changes that might emerge in Pakistan’s politics in weeks to come.
Bushra Gohar of the Awami National Party (ANP) said somebody had to take responsibility for failing to protect minorities and Raisani and Malik should have enough moral courage to resign. PPP member Nadeem Afzal Gondal sought an explanation from both Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Rehman Malik over the killings of Shias.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2011.
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