The lost city

Muhammad Hassan Miraj

“And I reached there after travelling for days. The whole city wore a gloomy look. On the first night of the new month, everyone in the city gathered at the foot of the adjacent hill. Soon after, a strange looking monster descended from the top and everyone started running madly, until few of them panted and fell. The creature picked up the fallen and went back. I wanted to turn around but my host pulled my hand and took me away. On reaching the safe confines of his house, I asked him about this strange phenomenon? With swollen eyes, he replied: The city was a beautiful city with peace and tranquillity and suddenly we were cursed with this monster. He comes every month and takes few lives. The city is named as Neem Sheher”

This excerpt is from the famous “Qissa Chahar Dervaish” of Meer Aman’s book “Bagh-o-Bahar,” but the city is Quetta. Its famous Jinnah Road is dotted with flags coloured red, white and green. A remembrance for the lives lost in the blast yesterday. For as long as these dead bodies lived, they were Pashtuns or Hazara. Only when they died, they graduated to become human beings.

One day after the blast and two days after the dead bodies were recovered, Quetta wears a look of uncertainty. Promising panflex boards shadow closed shops. Everyone is rushing to nowhere. The shopkeepers talk to the customers but continue looking over their shoulders, searching for a probable assassin. The shopping area of Jinnah Road is few metres away from the safe haven of known as the Cantonment. On both sides of the security check-post, people live a life infested with fear. One side, however, is able to put up a brave front.

A young man in his early twenties, the shopkeeper wears a concealed look of Hazara but he does not respond when I greet in his native dialect, Persian. The language which was once a source of calm is now a motive for murder. Before I can ask more questions, he disrupts the communication and tells us that he is packing up. He works with one hand and with the other; he holds the keys of his motorcycle tightly. The reason for such behaviour, he says, is the impending fear of death. He believes that everyone here in Quetta awaits destruction.

Anytime anybody will appear from anywhere and it will all be over. Even the remains will have to wait for some time before rescue teams show up. His voice sends ripples across my nervous system; this is the terror that reigns supreme here.

The city derived its name from the Pashto word ‘fortress,’ yet insecurity dampens the air. The Hazara community are locked inside their housing societies. Their young are either moving to Australia where asylum is much easier or Scandinavia, the universal refuge of Pakistanis. Those who cannot afford the legal way, opt for the sea route of Malaysia- Indonesia-Australia. The poorest spend their time sitting in front of their houses, for regardless of the poverty their mothers still hold them valuable. Outside the society, they are chased after and eventually murdered. The menial workers from Punjab move without their ID cards under a constant threat and Pashtun killing is also on the rise. What remains behind is the Baloch community, the otherwise neglected fraction of largest province of Pakistan for the largest part of the history. Many in the privileged sides of the country ask for their responsibility and I am reminded of Dante Alighieri from Italy, “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality.”

Amidst the closed shops, few aged shopkeepers have refused to succumb to fear. They sit in front of their shops with eyes swollen, only recalling the days when the city “was a beautiful city with peace and tranquillity and suddenly we were cursed with this monster. He comes every month and takes few lives. The city is named as Neem Sheher.”

The author is a federal government employee.

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VIEW : Hazaras and the poison against them — Part II — Liaquat Ali Hazara

The Hazaras, including the religious scholars, have always vehemently condemned killings of non-Hazaras, especially the clerics and prayer imams

Surat Khan Marri’s writing in this regard (Hazaras in the army) has been the poorest as he tries to simplify the selection process that the army would blindly recruit the Hazaras from Balochistan. Had this been the case, I am quite sure that the Pakistan army would have recruited Baloch nomads, shepherds and peasants in large numbers to provide better representation to the province.

Mentioning the Central Superior Services (CSS), which fill vacant posts of various respectable groups through the Federal Public Service Commission, the country of 180 million people knows better that the chairperson and the members of the FPSC have not been Hazaras, who had the privilege to allocate seats to Hazara candidates at federal level. The writer has overlooked to name the Hazara members of the FPSC in order to enlighten his readers about these unfair treatments and malpractices.

Ali Zaheer Hazara is a refined example of being a CSP Officer who made all three attempts of the CSS examination, and he passed the three-tier selection process to be allocated with seats in Office Management Group, Foreign Office and the District Management Group. His flair and attention to join the civil services as a CSP officer turned true when he joined it as a DMG officer.

Since then, several other talented Hazara youths have followed the footsteps of the aforesaid Hazara CSP officer, who are now serving the country in different groups. As far as the Hazara army officers’ induction into the civil services is concerned, everyone knows that the Pakistan army, under the constitution of Pakistan, reserves a quota of 10 percent for all commissioned army officers who wish to be permanently inducted into the civil services. Their induction into the civil services is also subject to appearing for a written and interview test and obtaining the aggregate marks. The army personnel who intend to enter civil services remain the employees of the federal government throughout; their services are at the disposal of the Federal government and they can be posted anywhere in Pakistan. The Hazara ex-army personnel serving in Balochistan have followed a straightforward and rigorous selection process, which dilutes the notion of nepotism, etc, as it is nearly impossible to find any Hazara in the selection board/panel. It is a far cry to denote that these Hazara officers have recruited other Hazaras in abundance as the selection process in government departments and ministries involves written tests and interviews, conducted under the supervision of the competent authority who definitely comprise non-Hazaras.

The Hazaras are the only stakeholders of this province who have been bluntly appealing to the Balochistan government to abolish permanently the quota system for government vacancies in order for pure merit to be applied. We have succinctly demanded that the same medium be exercised for admissions at various colleges and universities in the province but, alas, the Balochistan provincial government turns a deaf ear to these pleas.

It is nonsensical to label General Musa Khan as someone who could have abused his powers. The official records reveal that he even returned the lands bestowed on him by the government in recognition of his services to the country.

The Hazaras, like other recognised tribes of Pakistan, were declared Local in 1954, which may be verified from the relevant department of the government. Statements made by Marri bear no resemblance to the truth. General Musa Khan served as governor of West Pakistan from 1967 to 1969. Supposing the writer’s notion was true that General Musa Khan, through an ordinance, declared Hazaras as local, what was the constitutional weight of this ordinance? Can a mere governor, who oversees the functions of the provincial government and serves the country as a representative of the federal government, be entrusted with such infinite powers? Could this ordinance not be challenged in a court of law? Could the federal government not repeal this ordinance?

The writer has further tried to link Iran as a patron and well-wisher of the Hazaras, which is completely baseless. Iran, in essence, is an independent state with its foreign policy aligned to match its national interests. I must enlighten the readers that the Hazaras — who migrated to Iran during the cruel regime of Abdur Rehman in the 1880s — are still treated as illegal immigrants despite spending over 130 years in the country. The Hazaras are not allowed to engage in businesses nor can they have education beyond the GCSC level. Their fundamental rights are denied and they are still subjected to frustrating physical labour at minimal wages. At present, the Hazaras who migrated to Iran, due to unemployment and the cruelties of the Taliban, have to face different forms of human rights violations, including bonded labour, exploitation of workers at brick kilns, on agricultural lands and in factories. Why would Iran support the Hazaras in Quetta, who are ethnically Mongols? The dichotomy is explicitly clear from the passage of the writer in which he declared the Hazaras as strong-built and hardworking. The literacy rate in Hazaras, at present, is over 90 percent and the majority of them are educated to degree level. The properties, lands and businesses the Hazaras own today are the result of their incessant hard work. Everyone knows that the entire Quetta city is in the grip of extreme fear and uncertainty. This has created an atmosphere of anxiety and mistrust. The locals living in the city have been compelled to the extent of taking precautionary steps to minimise human losses. At this critical juncture, the Hazaras are under complete siege, who have to make internal arrangements to safeguard their fellow tribesmen.

The Hazaras have never targeted any prayer leaders nor did they ever intend to be involved in sectarian violence. There were over 500 Baloch families living among Hazaras in Meherabad since the birth of the country but nobody ever disturbed any non-Hazara in the vicinity despite the relentless attacks on them. Although a majority of these Baloch have voluntarily shifted to other safer places of the city, there are still Baloch in Meherabad who run their routine businesses without any problem. The Hazaras, including religious scholars, have always vehemently condemned the killings of non-Hazaras, especially the clerics and prayer imams, terming them as a conspiracy against the brother nations of the province.

(Concluded)

The writer is a London-based freelance journalist, and the chairperson of a political organisation, known as Hazara United Movement (HUM)

(This controversy is now closed — Ed)

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Ibrar Hussain’s last fight: we lost

Ali Moeen Nawazish

Monday, July 09, 2012
From Print Edition

It was 1987, the South Asian Games, in Kolkata India. There was out roar over a decision in boxing that many considered as unlawful. The match was between Pakistan and India, and while Pakistan had been the dominant side throughout the Indian side was declared victorious. The match refrees and judges could not sustain the pressure of their home crowd. The decision left the Pakistani boxer heartbroken, not for losing but for not being able to raise his national flag and national anthem in India. He had been unsuccessful, yet his passion for Pakistan never diminished and he did not give up.

After three years in 1990 at the Asian Games in China, the same boxer was standing again crying. Yet, this time instead of tears of sorrow they were tears of joy. The Asian Games was a much bigger event. It was a rematch of the same South Asian Games match from Kolkata. He stood victorious having defeated his counterpart who he had unfairly lost to before. It was the semi-final match and he had reached the finals. Yet, the winning streak did not end there for the same boxer reached the finals and won the Gold Medal. He had proven himself to be strong, bold and determined.

The name of this boxer is Ibrar Hussain and he belonged to Balochistan. He was the first boxer from Balochistan who represented Pakistan in the Asian Games and won the gold medal. For his accomplishments he was awarded two of Pakistan’s highest civil awards, the “Pride of Performance Award” and “Sitara-e-Imtiaz”.

Last year Ibrar Hussain stood crying again, this time the tears were not of joy or sadness and neither because of victory or defeat. The tears were much grimmer and the last tears he would ever cry. Ibrar Hussain had been shot, a victim of target killing. He was going home from his office in Quetta when he was attacked. The national hero, who had done so much for Pakistan was left only to ask, is this my reward? Is this all that was left for me?

Ibrar Hussain became the victim of the sectarian wave and ethnic violence that is spreading across Balochistan. I am writing about him today because of a message I received, “Salaam Nawazish bhai.

There is no peace for me, my family, my friends and relatives in my community. I belong to Hazara Community from Quetta. We have been killed brutally every day almost. Yesterday, our people returning by road from Iran in a bus were hit by a car driven by a suicide bomber. 14 people were killed and we buried them. I belong to the family of late Olympian Boxer Syed Ibrar Hussain Shah. What has Pakistan given back to him and his family except his dead body with several bullets in his head? Is this the Pakistan we are proud of? I am ready to give my life for Pakistan, I love Pakistan. But, I don’t want to waste my life like Ibrar Hussain.”

The Hazara community has a population of 8 million, 5.5 million are the residents of Afghanistan, 1.5 million of Iran, and 0.7 million of Pakistan. By origin the community is considered Turk-Mongol of the Afghanistan. In the 13th century they became target on the cast, ethnic and religion bias. This wave forced them to migrate from Afghanistan to the neighboring states like Pakistan, Iran and other Central Asian States. A century ago the forefathers of the Hazara community came to Quetta which at the time was a garrison city of the British government as refugees and have settled there since. Presently, the Hazara community is living in different parts of Pakistan, but the majority still lives in Quetta.

For a very long time there was peaceful co-existence, but extremist organizations took hold under General Zia’s rule and sectarian and ethnic violence started ever since. While the organizations have been banned they have still continued their role and work. According to one estimate, the community has faced more than 50 terrorists’ attacks, which have affected the lives of more than 2500 innocent people and have taken the lives of more than 550 people. No one is taking serious look into this issue. The government is just routinely condemning the attacks where as its own writ is challenged. There is not much that can be said when at times it seems the chief minister of the province himself spends more time in Karachi than in Balochistan.

The youth of Balochistan is worried about the situation and wants security. They want their fundamental right as citizens of Pakistan to live peacefully. The youth still wants to do a lot for Pakistan, but they don’t want to die in vain like Ibrar Hussain did. For Ibrar Hussain fought his last fight and we all lost.

The writer is Youth Ambassador of Geo and Jang Group. Email: am.nawazish@janggroup.com.pk Facebook: facebook.com/ali.moeen.nawazish Twitter: @amNAWAZISH

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