Tony Abbott & Julia Gillard, there's a better way

Hazara holocaust and the deafening Pakistani silence

Saturday, 30 June 2012 23:01

by Anas Abbas 

Political and religious parties in Pakistan take no interest in the plight of Hazaras since none of the influential politician represents Hazara community and the issue lacks fundamental ingredients of anti Americanism which sells in public



In Pakistan, the non state actors who implement the policy of “Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die,” have been belligerently persecuting the Hazara community since 1998. A concise historical persecution account of the Hazara people was well documented by Dr Saleem Javed in his Friday Times article. He writes: “On July 4, 2003, 53 people died and 150 were hurt in a suicide attack on a Hazara mosque in Quetta. It was the first attack of its kind. Since then, more than 700 Shias, most of them Hazaras, have been killed in violent mass killings and suicide bombings in Balochistan”.

Recently these attacks have gained significant momentum as 14 were killed and 45 injured in a suicide attack on a bus in Quetta which had just returned from Iran carrying pilgrims including women and children

So the questions are:

Why Hazara community is being targeted in Pakistan?

Who are the perpetrators and what is their motive? .... Continue Reading... 

Agar - 30th June 2012

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; Shia pilgrims’ killing exposes state’s criminal negligence

In a statement issued on Friday, the Commission said: “HRCP shares the grief of the families of those killed and injured in Thursday’s terrorist attack in Quetta...

Lahore, June 29: The killing of Shia pilgrims in Balochistan on Thursday again demonstrates that terrorists persist with their vicious and systematic campaign to target citizens on account of their religious beliefs as state has either been unwilling or increasingly unable to prevent the blatant killings, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Commission said: “HRCP shares the grief of the families of those killed and injured in Thursday’s terrorist attack in Quetta that targeted a bus of Shia pilgrims. After the brazen attack on a bus of Iran-bound pilgrims in Mastung district of Balochistan last year, it was certain that unless the culprits were brought to justice they will strike again. They did so on Thursday. This time the bus had a police escort and yet, as in the Mastung attack, neither the attack could be foiled nor perpetrators captured. About the only difference was that those dead and injured were taken to hospitals relatively quickly. The number of Shias killed in systemic and targeted attacks in Balochistan in 2012 alone has exceeded 60. Everyone knows who the perpetrators are. With each attack, allegations of the attackers enjoying sympathy and support among the security forces gain more credence, at least in the views of the targeted community. In the circumstances, the Shia population of Balochistan, and the Iran-bound pilgrims in particular, understandably feel like sitting ducks. Little wonder then that many young people from the community are prepared to take their chances to flee the country in search of safety, often risking travel in rickety boats in shark-infested waters to do so. At least 70 young men from the community had drowned in one such attempt in Indonesian waters in 2011.

“HRCP unequivocally condemns the attack and is shocked by the authorities’ inability or unwillingness to act against terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which has repeatedly claimed responsibility for these attacks. The promised probe into the attack must also look into charges of support for the terrorists among the security agencies. It has also been alleged that the Iran-bound pilgrims targeted on Thursday were originally sitting in various buses but the authorities asked them all to go in one bus, which was later targeted. Some members of the community have interpreted that as proof at least some elements in the law enforcement agencies working hand in glove with the terrorists. HRCP cannot vouch for the veracity of this claim but that too should be investigated. The government should try and imagine the plight of the community whose systematic targeting is now little short of naked persecution. HRCP is sure that unless unambiguous will of the state to bring the killers to justice is demonstrated Pakistan will become an even more unlivable place than it already is.”

Zohra Yusuf
Chairperson

HRCP

صدها تن در اعتراض به انتشار آمار جمعیت بامیان تظاهرات کردند

به روز شده:  09:10 گرينويچ - 01 ژوئيه 2012 - 11 تیر 1391

معترضان بامیانی خواستار تحقیقان قانونی نهادهای باصلاحیت در باره آمار منتشر شده از جانب اداره آمار شده اند

شماری از ساکنان ولایت بامیان در اعتراض به انتشار آمار جمعیت این ولایت از سوی اداره مرکزی ا‌حصائیه (اداره آمار) دست به تظاهرات زده اند.

اخیرا این اداره در پی بررسی وضعیت اقتصادی، اجتماعی و جمعیت‌شناسی ولایت بامیان، اعلام کرد که جعمیت این ولایت بیشتر از ۳۶۸ هزار نفر است.

اما تظاهرکنندگان بامیانی این آمار را "سیاسی و مغرضانه" دانسته و گفته‌اند که جمعیت بامیان بسیار بیشتر از این است.

محمدسجاد محسنی، از سازمان‌دهندگان این تظاهرات روز یکشنبه، ۱۱ سرطان/تیر به بی‎بی‌سی فارسی گفت که اداره احصائیه کار خود را در سرشماری جمعیت بامیان به درستی انجام نداده است.

آقای محسنی گفت: "چگونه این‌ها (سرشمارهای اداره احصائیه) اعضای خانواده‌ها را شمرده‌اند؟ اصلا آنها آمده‌ و دروازه‌ها را نشانی کرده‌اند و کسی به یاد ندارد که از رئیس خانواده سوال کرده باشند و یا آمار نفوس(جمعیت) خانواده را پرسیده باشند."

او افزود: "من در جایی هستم که خانه‌ام با مرکز احصائیه (ولایت بامیان) دو دقیقه راه فاصله دارد. به خانه‌های ما کسی نیامده و نپرسیده که چند نفر نفوس هستید."

این عضو سابق شورای ولایتی بامیان گفت در صورتی که صحت آمار اعلام شده از جانب اداره احصائیه پذیرفته شود، تعداد نمایندگان بامیان در پارلمان و دیگر امتیازات سیاسی و اقتصادی این ولایت کاهش خواهد یافت.

اما عبدالرحمان غفوری، رئیس اداره آمار افغانستان در واکنش به این تظاهرات، به بی‌بی‌سی فارسی گفت که این اداره هیچ علاقه‌ای ندارد که آمار جمعیت بامیان را کم نشان بدهد.

عبدالرحمان غفوری، رئیس اداره آمار افغانستان ادعای معترضان بامیانی را رد کرده است

او افزود: "ما هیچ ضرورت و نیازی نداریم که نفوس جایی را کم یا زیاد کنیم. ما در این مشکلی نداریم که با آنها (معترضان) در این رابطه صحبت کنیم."

این نخستین بار است که آمار جمعیت یک ولایت از سوی اداره آمار افغانستان اعلام و با واکنش منفی ساکنان آن مواجه می‌شود.

آنگونه که آقای غفوری گفت، پیش از این در افغانستان سرشماری کامل صورت نگرفته است و آمارهای موجود در این زمینه معتبر نیست.

او افزود که اداره آمار یک طرح آزمایشی را در بامیان برای بررسی وضعیت اقتصادی، اجتماعی و جمعیت شناسی این ولایت انجام داده و هنوز مشخص نیست که آیا چنین طرحی در ولایتهای دیگر هم اجرا خواهد شد یا نه.

به گفته رئیس اداره آمار افغانستان، بررسی جمعیت شناسی بامیان با حمایت صندوق جمعیت سازمان ملل انجام شده است.

پیش از این اداره آمار در وبسایت خود آمار تخمینی جمعیت ولایت بامیان را ۴۲۵ هزار نفر نوشته و تظاهرکنندگان گفته‌اند که بر اساس آمارهای نهادهای دیگر، جمعیت بامیان بیش از ۷۰۰ هزار نفر است.

تظاهرکنندگان در قطعنامه پایانی تظاهرات خود خواستار "تحقیقات قانونی" نهادهای باصلاحیت در باره آمار منتشر شده از جانب اداره آمار شده‌اند.

BBC Farsi

Over 400 killed in Balochistan sectarian violence: Report

By Zahid Gishkori
Published: July 1, 2012


Official data shows an alarming increase in killings. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:

The government seems to be at a loss to explain the escalating sectarian strife in Balochistan, which has claimed more than 400 lives in more than 200 incidents of ethnic and sectarian violence in the past four years.

The decade-long insurgency recently turned into a battleground for politically motivated attacks on religious sects with banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi allegedly targeting the Shia and Hazara communities throughout the embattled province.

The provincial home department said in an official report last week that cross-border influence, among other factors, was fuelling the sectarian violence.

The official report which covers a period of four years states that over 400 Shias and Hazaras, who account for nearly a fifth of the country’s 170 million population lost their lives as a result of the aggression. Around 100 pilgrims have been killed in just the first half of the current year.

Another 450 people were injured in over 110 sectarian attacks from 2008 to 2011.

The increasing trend of violence is alarming. Over 120 members of the Shia and Hazara communities were gunned down last year while close to a 100 sustained injuries, compared to 81 fatalities and 200 casualties in 2010.

In 2009, 39 members of the Shia community were killed and 20 injured in over 30 incidents of ethnic violence, while only 15 were killed and 10 injured in 2008.

The police have arrested alleged terrorist Sher Dil, also known as Babu, for his reported ties with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in a bid to curb the violence. Others who have been arrested include Hafiz Muhammad Usman alias Abbas, Dawood Badeeni, Jalil Ababkki and Shafiq Rind. However, some suspects such as Usman Saifullah and Ziaul Haq still remain at large.

Alleged terrorists Khalid Bungulzai and Majeed Langove are said to have been killed in police encounters and the government has constituted a high-level inquiry committee headed by the home minister of Balochistan to further probe the incident.

The provincial government has decided to refer the investigation of “sensitive cases” to the Crime Investigation Department and called for a review of the regulations pertaining to the movement of pilgrims under the Travel Agency Act, 1976.

The provincial home secretary also held meetings with the Iranian consul general. Both sides agreed to beef-up security arrangements from Quetta to Taftan and discussed possible arrangements for facilitating the movement of members of the Hazara community between Marriabad to Hazara Town and Hazar Ganji.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2012.

Hazara’s genocide

Rocket Attack on Hazara Pilgrims' Bus from an Artist's Perspective

Saturday, June 30th, 2012 3:33:03 by

  Faisal Farooq

The gruesome incident in which a bus of Shia pilgrims was attacked in Quetta coupled with numerous others in Balochistan over the past few months is part of baleful conspiracy to divide the country vertically and horizontally.

More than dozen people, who were returning from Iran, were lost their lives while another 30 sustained severe injuries when their bus was attacked in the outskirts of provincial metropolis.

If we focus on the pattern of attacks, the incompetency of the provincial government and law enforcement agencies to protect the community becomes the foremost reason of the dreadful incident.

This community mainly targeted along the set routes that buses take when transporting pilgrims to and from Iran, the neighboring Shia-dominated country.

Although law enforcement agencies increased security along these routes, they will have to develop a proper setup to monitor and identify suspicious activities in the future.

The police escorts which accompany pilgrims in these journeys are adequate at all. Local politicians of the province have been provided extensive and expensive security arrangements, but why not proper security and protection is being given to Hazara community.

Rather making efforts to prevent already planned attacks at the eleventh hour, the more effective way to tackle the issue is chasing the militants and dismantling their infrastructure.

The anti-Shia militancy in the province has modified itself into a force having its own motivations, operational bases and centers of propaganda and misinformation.

The law enforcement agencies have identified the locations of seminaries involved in propagating anti-Shia views. They also found some bases of the Lahskar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) who train militants and terrorists for such attacks.

Despite having information about the attacks and those behind them in the face of such a predictable pattern, the failure to prevent them has only intensified speculation that law enforcement agencies are deliberately not taking action against secretarial violence.

Such theories reflect mistrust among the stakeholders in the province, which is seen as being focused on cracking down against separatist forces.

The continued attacks on the Hazara community are increasingly becoming a massive abdication of responsibility on part of the state whatever it is thinking.

News Pakistan