Post by Daily Qudrat.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Pakistan accused of ignoring sectarian terror outfits
Murtaza Ali ShahWednesday, March 12, 2014
From Print Edition
GENEVA: Pakistani authorities have been accused by rights groups of turning a blind eye to the banned sectarian militant groups and their relentless attacks on vulnerable communities such as Shia Muslims and other minority groups.
During a side event at the 25th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the topic of ‘The Rise of Religious Intolerance’, Pakistani campaigners alleged that the Pakistani government lacks will to tackle the issue of sectarian killings of Shias head on, helping the growth of perception amongst Shias that they have no one to turn to for their protection in this time of crisis. The session was hosted by the International Imam Hussain Council, International Association for Religious Freedom and Human Rights without Borders.
Rubab Mehdi Rizvi, Chair of the Imam Hussain Council, told members of the NGOs, campaigners and the UN officials that over 21,000 Shia Muslims have been killed in the last three decades in Pakistan “for which not a single one of the killers has been brought to justice”.
“When the alleged assassins are arrested, they are freed after a few weeks, or they somehow manage to escape. It is in the interest of mankind that terrorism be eliminated, and the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Counter-Terrorism Strategy and a Plan of Action for this purpose.”
She said that the appeasement of terrorists, giving them a platform in the media; failing to bring them to justice; failing to protect citizens from their attacks; allowing them to stand in elections, and allowing hate speech including incitement to murder are not only weakening Pakistan’s internal peace and stability but are damaging the country as a partner in the international community’s counter-terrorism strategy.
She feared that all current indications point to the likelihood that attacks of this nature will intensify across the country in the coming months. “We have come here to reclaim a vibrant and diverse Pakistan that belongs to all of us, not just one hard-line minority group.”
Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi of Pakistan Youth Alliance said that militant groups such as the supposedly banned Lashkar-e-Jehangvi (LeJ), Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) and their various affiliates operate with impunity across Pakistan. This despite the fact that they have openly declared their mission to ‘purge’ Pakistan of Shias and others, including majority Sunnis, who differ with their extremist ideology, he said.
He stressed that these groups claim responsibility for terror attacks, continue to engage in hate speech against the Shia community through their madrassah networks, mosque sermons, through distribution of literature and vocal presence on social media but the government agencies don’t act.
“This is a violation of the rights guaranteed by the Pakistani Constitution, a major factor of instability within Pakistan and its also in direct breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly Article 3 and Article 18,” Zaidi said.
Hazara Human rights activist Dr Saleem Javed claimed that almost 1,500 Hazaras in 135 attacks have been killed in sectarian attacks in Quetta.
“Most of Hazara govt employees have quit their jobs in fear of getting killed. Traders, businessmen and shopkeepers who were doing small scale business with Afghanistan & Iran have either sold out their properties at throwaway prices or have closed down temporarily.
Hazara students have dropped out of university in Balochistan in entirety as their buses were targeted. The community has been effectively ghettoized in Warsaw like condition in their enclaves. The governments have done nothing practical to stop the killings rather engaged in a blame game,” he said, calling on the Pakistani govt to fulfill its promises and provide a full-fledged protection and bring the culprits to justice.
The conference called on the government to increase law enforcement capacity in Shia-majority areas and during Shia religious gatherings to protect those who are most at risk; take steps to rein in madrassahs that are responsible for inciting violence and hate speech; draft legislation that makes incitement to violence against any individual or community a criminal offense; and work with educational institutions, civil society and religious scholars of various sects to implement programmes that focus on interfaith harmony.
From Print Edition
GENEVA: Pakistani authorities have been accused by rights groups of turning a blind eye to the banned sectarian militant groups and their relentless attacks on vulnerable communities such as Shia Muslims and other minority groups.
During a side event at the 25th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the topic of ‘The Rise of Religious Intolerance’, Pakistani campaigners alleged that the Pakistani government lacks will to tackle the issue of sectarian killings of Shias head on, helping the growth of perception amongst Shias that they have no one to turn to for their protection in this time of crisis. The session was hosted by the International Imam Hussain Council, International Association for Religious Freedom and Human Rights without Borders.
Rubab Mehdi Rizvi, Chair of the Imam Hussain Council, told members of the NGOs, campaigners and the UN officials that over 21,000 Shia Muslims have been killed in the last three decades in Pakistan “for which not a single one of the killers has been brought to justice”.
“When the alleged assassins are arrested, they are freed after a few weeks, or they somehow manage to escape. It is in the interest of mankind that terrorism be eliminated, and the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Counter-Terrorism Strategy and a Plan of Action for this purpose.”
She said that the appeasement of terrorists, giving them a platform in the media; failing to bring them to justice; failing to protect citizens from their attacks; allowing them to stand in elections, and allowing hate speech including incitement to murder are not only weakening Pakistan’s internal peace and stability but are damaging the country as a partner in the international community’s counter-terrorism strategy.
She feared that all current indications point to the likelihood that attacks of this nature will intensify across the country in the coming months. “We have come here to reclaim a vibrant and diverse Pakistan that belongs to all of us, not just one hard-line minority group.”
Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi of Pakistan Youth Alliance said that militant groups such as the supposedly banned Lashkar-e-Jehangvi (LeJ), Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) and their various affiliates operate with impunity across Pakistan. This despite the fact that they have openly declared their mission to ‘purge’ Pakistan of Shias and others, including majority Sunnis, who differ with their extremist ideology, he said.
He stressed that these groups claim responsibility for terror attacks, continue to engage in hate speech against the Shia community through their madrassah networks, mosque sermons, through distribution of literature and vocal presence on social media but the government agencies don’t act.
“This is a violation of the rights guaranteed by the Pakistani Constitution, a major factor of instability within Pakistan and its also in direct breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly Article 3 and Article 18,” Zaidi said.
Hazara Human rights activist Dr Saleem Javed claimed that almost 1,500 Hazaras in 135 attacks have been killed in sectarian attacks in Quetta.
“Most of Hazara govt employees have quit their jobs in fear of getting killed. Traders, businessmen and shopkeepers who were doing small scale business with Afghanistan & Iran have either sold out their properties at throwaway prices or have closed down temporarily.
Hazara students have dropped out of university in Balochistan in entirety as their buses were targeted. The community has been effectively ghettoized in Warsaw like condition in their enclaves. The governments have done nothing practical to stop the killings rather engaged in a blame game,” he said, calling on the Pakistani govt to fulfill its promises and provide a full-fledged protection and bring the culprits to justice.
The conference called on the government to increase law enforcement capacity in Shia-majority areas and during Shia religious gatherings to protect those who are most at risk; take steps to rein in madrassahs that are responsible for inciting violence and hate speech; draft legislation that makes incitement to violence against any individual or community a criminal offense; and work with educational institutions, civil society and religious scholars of various sects to implement programmes that focus on interfaith harmony.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
HUNTING THE HAZARA
MAR 11 2014
BY KHALED AHMED
Minhaj Ahmed Rafi—Newsweek
IF THERE EVER WAS A SIGN OF THE DEMISE OF THE PAKISTANI STATE, IT IS THE KILLING OF THE HAZARA COMMUNITY OF QUETTA.
In Pakhtun-dominated Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, they look different. Fair skinned but clearly mongoloid, they arouse curiosity and primal hatred. They belong to the Shia sect among a hardline Sunni city where the presence of Afghan and Pakistani Taliban has produced a terrorist mix seldom seen elsewhere in Pakistan. The Hazara of Quetta are in the crosshairs of the sectarian manifestation of the Taliban-Al Qaeda dominion in Pakistan.
On Jan. 21 this year, a bus carrying Hazara youths returning from pilgrimage to Shia shrines in Iran—many mixing business with faith—were blown up by a suicide-bomber’s car in the Mastung district approaching Quetta. Over 24 mangled bodies were extracted from the wreck of the pulverized bus. The Hazara of Quetta went through their routine of laying the dead bodies out on Alamdar Road and refused to bury them until the state of Pakistan pledged to take action against the killers. They pointedly rejected any assurances from the provincial government, which they have long perceived as impotent.
Two days of vigil by men, women and children alongside the limbs collected from Mastung produced results: Pakistan’s interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, accompanied by Sen. Pervaiz Rashid, the information minister, flew to Quetta and vowed to take action. Accordingly, on Jan. 24, the paramilitary Frontier Corps and police swept through Mastung with a 350-strong force and arrested dozens of suspected “militants.” Special military flights were arranged for the rest of the Hazara pilgrims stranded on the Pakistan-Iran border post to avoid another bloodbath.
This was not the first target-killing on Mastung Road. In the past months, the Hazara were repeatedly offloaded from buses by gun-toting men, stood before a firing squad, and executed as the non-Hazara passengers stood aside and cowered. The Mastung Road approach to Quetta is a deathtrap despite the fact that the district contains a cadet college supplying Baloch manpower to the Army. (In the other stricken province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the district of Bannu, too, has a cadet college, but is entirely at the mercy of the Taliban.)
But this year’s massacre recalled the biggest act of mass murder in the city of Quetta. On Jan. 10, over a hundred Hazara, including women and children, died after a vehicle full of a quantity of explosives not seen in the country before destroyed a market town where the Shia have become ghettoized.
The mourners refused to leave the street where they had assembled the dismembered bodies of their families until the government ensured action against the killers. The Hazara didn’t believe a word of what the politicians said because their extermination, often referred to as genocide, had become routine. This routine began years ago with the rise of the Punjab-based Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian outfit whose name appears on the Al Qaeda flag along with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jandullah.
In 2011, at least 26 Hazara were shot dead execution-style on Mastung Road. Terrorists had intercepted a bus going to Taftan, a town near the Pakistan-Iran border, had singled out all Hazara men, and shot them dead. Terrorists stayed at the scene for 10 minutes firing with AK-47s to ensure no one survived. Then they ambushed and killed several Hazara rushing to the scene to take their dead relatives to hospital.
From 2008 to 2012, Balochistan witnessed 758 Shia killed in 478 incidents. Of these, 338 victims belonged to the Hazara community, indicating that the Hazara remain the prime target of this violent schism....Continue Reading...
Minhaj Ahmed Rafi—Newsweek
IF THERE EVER WAS A SIGN OF THE DEMISE OF THE PAKISTANI STATE, IT IS THE KILLING OF THE HAZARA COMMUNITY OF QUETTA.
In Pakhtun-dominated Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, they look different. Fair skinned but clearly mongoloid, they arouse curiosity and primal hatred. They belong to the Shia sect among a hardline Sunni city where the presence of Afghan and Pakistani Taliban has produced a terrorist mix seldom seen elsewhere in Pakistan. The Hazara of Quetta are in the crosshairs of the sectarian manifestation of the Taliban-Al Qaeda dominion in Pakistan.
On Jan. 21 this year, a bus carrying Hazara youths returning from pilgrimage to Shia shrines in Iran—many mixing business with faith—were blown up by a suicide-bomber’s car in the Mastung district approaching Quetta. Over 24 mangled bodies were extracted from the wreck of the pulverized bus. The Hazara of Quetta went through their routine of laying the dead bodies out on Alamdar Road and refused to bury them until the state of Pakistan pledged to take action against the killers. They pointedly rejected any assurances from the provincial government, which they have long perceived as impotent.
Two days of vigil by men, women and children alongside the limbs collected from Mastung produced results: Pakistan’s interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, accompanied by Sen. Pervaiz Rashid, the information minister, flew to Quetta and vowed to take action. Accordingly, on Jan. 24, the paramilitary Frontier Corps and police swept through Mastung with a 350-strong force and arrested dozens of suspected “militants.” Special military flights were arranged for the rest of the Hazara pilgrims stranded on the Pakistan-Iran border post to avoid another bloodbath.
This was not the first target-killing on Mastung Road. In the past months, the Hazara were repeatedly offloaded from buses by gun-toting men, stood before a firing squad, and executed as the non-Hazara passengers stood aside and cowered. The Mastung Road approach to Quetta is a deathtrap despite the fact that the district contains a cadet college supplying Baloch manpower to the Army. (In the other stricken province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the district of Bannu, too, has a cadet college, but is entirely at the mercy of the Taliban.)
But this year’s massacre recalled the biggest act of mass murder in the city of Quetta. On Jan. 10, over a hundred Hazara, including women and children, died after a vehicle full of a quantity of explosives not seen in the country before destroyed a market town where the Shia have become ghettoized.
The mourners refused to leave the street where they had assembled the dismembered bodies of their families until the government ensured action against the killers. The Hazara didn’t believe a word of what the politicians said because their extermination, often referred to as genocide, had become routine. This routine began years ago with the rise of the Punjab-based Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian outfit whose name appears on the Al Qaeda flag along with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jandullah.
In 2011, at least 26 Hazara were shot dead execution-style on Mastung Road. Terrorists had intercepted a bus going to Taftan, a town near the Pakistan-Iran border, had singled out all Hazara men, and shot them dead. Terrorists stayed at the scene for 10 minutes firing with AK-47s to ensure no one survived. Then they ambushed and killed several Hazara rushing to the scene to take their dead relatives to hospital.
From 2008 to 2012, Balochistan witnessed 758 Shia killed in 478 incidents. Of these, 338 victims belonged to the Hazara community, indicating that the Hazara remain the prime target of this violent schism....Continue Reading...
Monday, March 10, 2014
2 Star-Crossed Afghans Cling to Love, Even at Risk of Death
By ROD NORDLAND
MARCH 9, 2014
BAMIAN, Afghanistan — She is his Juliet and he is her Romeo, and her family has threatened to kill them both.
Zakia is 18 and Mohammad Ali is 21, both the children of farmers in this remote mountain province. If they could manage to get together, they would make a striking couple.
She dresses colorfully, a pink head scarf with her orange sweater, and collapses into giggles talking about him. He is a bit of a dandy, with a mop of upswept black hair, a white silk scarf and a hole in the side of his saddle-toned leather shoes. Both have eyes nearly the same shade, a startling amber.
They have never been alone in a room together, but they have publicly declared their love for each other and their intention to marry despite their different ethnicities and sects. That was enough to make them outcasts, they said, marked for death for dishonoring their families — especially hers.
Zakia has taken refuge in a women’s shelter here. Even though she is legally an adult under Afghan law, the local court has ordered her returned to her family. “If they get hold of me,” she said matter-of-factly, “they would kill me even before they get me home.”Photo
Zakia, 18, in Bamian, Afghanistan, said her marriage plans led to family death threats.CreditMauricio Lima for The New York Times
Neither can read, and they have never heard Shakespeare’s tale of doomed love. But there are plenty of analogues in the stories they are both steeped in, and those, too, end tragically.
Zakia invokes one, the tale of Princess Shirin and Farhad the stonecutter, as she talks about her beloved, and her long wait in the women’s shelter to marry him. “I would wait until I reach my love, no matter how long,” she said.
In 21st-century Afghanistan, as well, life is no fairy tale, especially in rural places like Bamian. Young people who want to choose their own mates face the harsh reality that strict social traditions still trump new laws and expanded rights — and that honor killings in such cases remain endemic.... Continue Reading...
BAMIAN, Afghanistan — She is his Juliet and he is her Romeo, and her family has threatened to kill them both.
Zakia is 18 and Mohammad Ali is 21, both the children of farmers in this remote mountain province. If they could manage to get together, they would make a striking couple.
She dresses colorfully, a pink head scarf with her orange sweater, and collapses into giggles talking about him. He is a bit of a dandy, with a mop of upswept black hair, a white silk scarf and a hole in the side of his saddle-toned leather shoes. Both have eyes nearly the same shade, a startling amber.
They have never been alone in a room together, but they have publicly declared their love for each other and their intention to marry despite their different ethnicities and sects. That was enough to make them outcasts, they said, marked for death for dishonoring their families — especially hers.
Zakia has taken refuge in a women’s shelter here. Even though she is legally an adult under Afghan law, the local court has ordered her returned to her family. “If they get hold of me,” she said matter-of-factly, “they would kill me even before they get me home.”Photo
Zakia, 18, in Bamian, Afghanistan, said her marriage plans led to family death threats.CreditMauricio Lima for The New York Times
Neither can read, and they have never heard Shakespeare’s tale of doomed love. But there are plenty of analogues in the stories they are both steeped in, and those, too, end tragically.
Zakia invokes one, the tale of Princess Shirin and Farhad the stonecutter, as she talks about her beloved, and her long wait in the women’s shelter to marry him. “I would wait until I reach my love, no matter how long,” she said.
In 21st-century Afghanistan, as well, life is no fairy tale, especially in rural places like Bamian. Young people who want to choose their own mates face the harsh reality that strict social traditions still trump new laws and expanded rights — and that honor killings in such cases remain endemic.... Continue Reading...
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Afghan Hazaras Emerge as Power Brokers in President Elections
Major Candidates Courting Votes of Important Ethnic Minority
By
NATHAN HODGE and EHSANULLAH AMIRI CONNECT
Updated March 7, 2014 7:55 p.m. ET
Workers from Afghanistan's Hazara ethnic minority chat while waiting for customers at a market in the capital, Kabul, in September. Associated Press
KABUL—Afghanistan's once-persecuted ethnic Hazara minority, which has made strong economic and political gains since the U.S. ousted the Taliban in 2001, has emerged as a formidable power broker in the April presidential election.
The mostly Shiite Muslim Hazaras are estimated to represent 9% of the nation's population, the third largest ethnic group, and they have a high level of participation in elections, which is one reason presidential candidates these days are busy courting their vote.
Four of the six leading candidates have selected Hazara running mates in their bid to succeed Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who must step down this year, and who has a Hazara vice president himself.
Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, one of the most likely candidates to make it to a runoff, is running with Mohammed Mohaqeq, a Hazara and prominent former warlord.
Mr. Mohaqeq heads a faction of Hezb-e Wahdat, an armed party that fought against the Soviet occupation from 1979 to 1980, and clashed with other ethnic militias during the civil war in the 1990s. Hundreds of Hazara civilians were killed in the so-called Afshar massacre, a 1993 looting spree by a rival militia in western Kabul during the civil war.... Continue Reading...
By
NATHAN HODGE and EHSANULLAH AMIRI CONNECT
Updated March 7, 2014 7:55 p.m. ET
Workers from Afghanistan's Hazara ethnic minority chat while waiting for customers at a market in the capital, Kabul, in September. Associated Press
KABUL—Afghanistan's once-persecuted ethnic Hazara minority, which has made strong economic and political gains since the U.S. ousted the Taliban in 2001, has emerged as a formidable power broker in the April presidential election.
The mostly Shiite Muslim Hazaras are estimated to represent 9% of the nation's population, the third largest ethnic group, and they have a high level of participation in elections, which is one reason presidential candidates these days are busy courting their vote.
Four of the six leading candidates have selected Hazara running mates in their bid to succeed Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who must step down this year, and who has a Hazara vice president himself.
Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, one of the most likely candidates to make it to a runoff, is running with Mohammed Mohaqeq, a Hazara and prominent former warlord.
Mr. Mohaqeq heads a faction of Hezb-e Wahdat, an armed party that fought against the Soviet occupation from 1979 to 1980, and clashed with other ethnic militias during the civil war in the 1990s. Hundreds of Hazara civilians were killed in the so-called Afshar massacre, a 1993 looting spree by a rival militia in western Kabul during the civil war.... Continue Reading...
Monday, February 17, 2014
Hazara children: Still life
Fazil Mousavi pumps hope and colour into the ethnically fragmented lives of Hazara children. PHOTOS: DANIAL SHAH
By Danial Shah / Photo: Danial Shah / Creative: Munira Abbas
Red may run through the lives of Hazaras in Quetta but their children still manage to paint a positive picture. At the Sketch Club in Mariabad, that boasts the oldest Hazara settlement in the eastern half of the city since the late 18th century, parents enroll their children to nurture their artistic talent.
A student practices drawing clay pots at the Sketch Club . PHOTOS: DANIAL SHAH
It’s not hard to spot the club tucked away in the middle of a row of stores and houses in the neighbourhood. The words ‘Sketch Club’ are painted in an oblique font on the signboard at the entrance, cemented in place over a stand-out white steel gate. A flight of stairs lead up to an open terrace where children sit in broad daylight, with their sketchbooks and shading pencils in tow. Inspired by an astounding view of the Mariabad valley, where houses are built in succession one above the other, they begin to sketch the object placed before them, taking instructions from their maestro on how to add highlights and texture to their drawing.
“I was teaching art at a school when I felt the need to [pass on] my skill to my community, hence the concept of ‘Sketch Club’ came into being,” says the 54-year-old drawing instructor, Fazil Mousavi. After completing his degree in Fine Arts at the University of Balochistan, in 1988, at a time where only one other known Hazara student graduated with him, he started work as a freelance artist, participating and winning prizes at nationwide exhibitions till 2002 and holding a solo exhibit at the Museum Willem van Haren, Holland, in 2007. But Mousavi’s vision was fulfilled with having his very own sketch club in Quetta, where he now offers psychological and emotional catharsis through art to Hazara boys and girls....Continue Reading...
Red may run through the lives of Hazaras in Quetta but their children still manage to paint a positive picture. At the Sketch Club in Mariabad, that boasts the oldest Hazara settlement in the eastern half of the city since the late 18th century, parents enroll their children to nurture their artistic talent.
A student practices drawing clay pots at the Sketch Club . PHOTOS: DANIAL SHAH
It’s not hard to spot the club tucked away in the middle of a row of stores and houses in the neighbourhood. The words ‘Sketch Club’ are painted in an oblique font on the signboard at the entrance, cemented in place over a stand-out white steel gate. A flight of stairs lead up to an open terrace where children sit in broad daylight, with their sketchbooks and shading pencils in tow. Inspired by an astounding view of the Mariabad valley, where houses are built in succession one above the other, they begin to sketch the object placed before them, taking instructions from their maestro on how to add highlights and texture to their drawing.
“I was teaching art at a school when I felt the need to [pass on] my skill to my community, hence the concept of ‘Sketch Club’ came into being,” says the 54-year-old drawing instructor, Fazil Mousavi. After completing his degree in Fine Arts at the University of Balochistan, in 1988, at a time where only one other known Hazara student graduated with him, he started work as a freelance artist, participating and winning prizes at nationwide exhibitions till 2002 and holding a solo exhibit at the Museum Willem van Haren, Holland, in 2007. But Mousavi’s vision was fulfilled with having his very own sketch club in Quetta, where he now offers psychological and emotional catharsis through art to Hazara boys and girls....Continue Reading...
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
US adds Malik Ishaq in most wanted global terrorist list
DAWN.COM
Published 2014-02-07 00:15:20
ISLAMABAD: The United States on Thursday designated Malik Ishaq, the chief of proscribed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) militant group of Pakistan, in its list of most wanted international terrorists.
“The Department of State has designated Malik Ishaq as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224,” said a statement issued by the US State Department.
The US government also decided to keep his outfit on the international terrorist organisation list.
“In addition to Ishaq’s designation, the Department of State has also reviewed and maintained the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of LJ in accordance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended,” said the statement.
The statement said that Ishaq has claimed responsibility of his role in various terrorist activities that killed more than 100 Pakistani civilians mainly Shia Muslims.
“More recently, in February 2013, Pakistani police arrested Ishaq in connection with attacks on January 10 and February 16, 2013 in the northwestern city of Quetta that killed nearly 200 Pakistani civilians. LJ claimed responsibility for the Quetta bombings.”
American citizens and companies are now prohibited for engaging in transactions with the LJ chief after Thursday’s announcement. The US authorities can now act in freezing all his financial assets and properties in the United States as well, said the statement.
“The Department took these actions in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Treasury,” the press release added.
Malik Ishaq is facing charges relating to killing of more than 100 people belonging to the minority sect and the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009 and has spent around 15 years in Pakistani jails.
He was initially a member of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a banned Sunni extremist group but later disassociated himself from it for his alleged ‘violent policies’ and formed his own outfit. The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was proscribed by the Pakistan government as a terror group soon after its inception in early 1990s.
After reaching an agreement with Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) chief Ahmed Ludhianvi, Ishaq joined as second in command of the former SSP in 2012.
Published 2014-02-07 00:15:20
ISLAMABAD: The United States on Thursday designated Malik Ishaq, the chief of proscribed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) militant group of Pakistan, in its list of most wanted international terrorists.
“The Department of State has designated Malik Ishaq as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224,” said a statement issued by the US State Department.
The US government also decided to keep his outfit on the international terrorist organisation list.
“In addition to Ishaq’s designation, the Department of State has also reviewed and maintained the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of LJ in accordance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended,” said the statement.
The statement said that Ishaq has claimed responsibility of his role in various terrorist activities that killed more than 100 Pakistani civilians mainly Shia Muslims.
“More recently, in February 2013, Pakistani police arrested Ishaq in connection with attacks on January 10 and February 16, 2013 in the northwestern city of Quetta that killed nearly 200 Pakistani civilians. LJ claimed responsibility for the Quetta bombings.”
American citizens and companies are now prohibited for engaging in transactions with the LJ chief after Thursday’s announcement. The US authorities can now act in freezing all his financial assets and properties in the United States as well, said the statement.
“The Department took these actions in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Treasury,” the press release added.
Malik Ishaq is facing charges relating to killing of more than 100 people belonging to the minority sect and the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009 and has spent around 15 years in Pakistani jails.
He was initially a member of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a banned Sunni extremist group but later disassociated himself from it for his alleged ‘violent policies’ and formed his own outfit. The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was proscribed by the Pakistan government as a terror group soon after its inception in early 1990s.
After reaching an agreement with Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) chief Ahmed Ludhianvi, Ishaq joined as second in command of the former SSP in 2012.
ملک اسحاق ’عالمی دہشت گردوں‘ کی فہرست میں شامل
آخری وقت اشاعت: جمعرات 6 فروری 2014 , 16:10 GMT 21:10 PST
ملک اسحاق پر 100 سے افراد کے قتل کے مقدمات قائم ہیں
امریکی حکام نے پاکستان کی کالعدم تنظیم لشکر جھنگوی کے بانی امیر ملک محمد اسحاق کو ’خصوصی عالمی دہشت گرد‘ قرار دے دیا ہے۔
امریکہ کے محکمۂ خارجہ نے ان کی تنظیم لشکرِ جھنگوی کو بھی غیر ملکی دہشت گرد تنظیموں کی فہرست میں شامل رکھنے کا اعلان کیا ہے۔
محکمۂ خارجہ کی جانب سے جمعرات کو جاری ہونے والے بیان میں کہا گیا ہے کہ ملک اسحاق نے ایسی دہشت گردانہ سرگرمیوں میں اپنے کردار کو تسلیم کیا ہے جن کے نتیجے میں 100 سے زیادہ پاکستانیوں کی جانیں گئیں۔
بیان کے مطابق اس درجہ بندی کے بعد کسی بھی امریکی شہری یا تنظیم کو ملک اسحاق سے کسی قسم کے تعلقات کی اجازت نہیں ہوگی۔
اس کے علاوہ امریکی حکام امریکہ میں موجود ان سے منسلک تمام مالیاتی اثاثے منجمد کر سکیں گے۔
سپاہِ صحابہ سے لشکرِ جھنگوی
ملک اسحاق ابتدا میں کالعدم تنظیم سپاہ صحابہ کے ہی رکن تھے لیکن اپنی مبینہ متشدد پالیسی کی بنیاد پر سپاہ صحابہ سے اختلاف کے بعد ایک نئی تنظیم لشکر جھنگوی کی بنیاد رکھی اور اس کے بانی امیر بنے۔
بیان میں یہ بھی کہا گیا ہے کہ ملک اسحاق کو عالمی دہشت گرد قرار دیے جانے کے علاوہ لشکرِ جھنگوی کو غیر ملکی دہشت گرد تنظیم قرار دیے جانے کے فیصلے کا بھی جائزہ لیا گیا ہے جس کے بعد اس کا یہ درجہ برقرار رکھنے کا فیصلہ ہوا ہے۔
ملک اسحاق پر سو سے زیادہ شیعہ اور دیگر مسالک سے تعلق رکھنے والے افراد کے قتل کے مقدمات قائم ہیں اور وہ تقریباً پندرہ سال جیل کاٹ چکے ہیں۔
وہ ابتدا میں کالعدم تنظیم سپاہ صحابہ کے ہی رکن تھے لیکن اپنی مبینہ متشدد پالیسی کی بنیاد پر سپاہ صحابہ سے اختلاف کے بعد ایک نئی تنظیم لشکر جھنگوی کی بنیاد رکھی اور اس کے بانی امیر بنے۔ یہ تنظیم بھی اسی زمانے میں کالعدم قرار دے دی گئی تھی۔
سنہ 2012 میں سپاہ صحابہ میں قیادت کے معاملے پر اختلافات ختم ہوگئے تھے اور تنظیم کے موجودہ سربراہ احمد لدھیانوی اور ملک اسحاق میں صلح کے بعد انھیں تنظیم کا نائب صدر بنا دیا گیا تھا۔
US Department of State: Terrorist Designations of Lashkar I Jhangvi and Malik Ishaq
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 6, 2014
The Department of State has designated Malik Ishaq, one of the co-founders of Lashkar I Jhangvi (LJ), as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. The consequences of this designation include a prohibition against U.S. persons engaging in transactions with Malik Ishaq, and the freezing of all property and interests of Malik Ishaq that are in the United States, or come within the United States or the possession or control of U.S. persons.
Malik Ishaq is a founding member and is the current leader of LJ. In 1997, Malik Ishaq admitted his involvement in terrorist activity that resulted in the deaths of over 100 Pakistanis. More recently, in February 2013, Pakistani police arrested Ishaq in connection with attacks on January 10 and February 16, 2013 in the northwestern city of Quetta, Pakistan that killed nearly 200 Pakistani civilians. LJ claimed responsibility for the Quetta bombings.
In addition to Ishaq’s designation under E.O. 13224, the Department of State has also reviewed and maintained the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of LJ in accordance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. LJ specializes in armed attacks and bombings and has admitted responsibility for numerous killings of Shia religious and civil society leaders in Pakistan. LJ claimed responsibility for a 2013 attack in a crowded billiards hall in Quetta that resulted in the deaths of 80 Pakistanis.
As a result of maintaining the FTO designation, the legal consequences of the designation remain in place, including the prohibition against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to LJ, and the freezing of all LJ assets under the control or possession of U.S. financial institutions.
The Department took these actions in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Treasury.
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 6, 2014
The Department of State has designated Malik Ishaq, one of the co-founders of Lashkar I Jhangvi (LJ), as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. The consequences of this designation include a prohibition against U.S. persons engaging in transactions with Malik Ishaq, and the freezing of all property and interests of Malik Ishaq that are in the United States, or come within the United States or the possession or control of U.S. persons.
Malik Ishaq is a founding member and is the current leader of LJ. In 1997, Malik Ishaq admitted his involvement in terrorist activity that resulted in the deaths of over 100 Pakistanis. More recently, in February 2013, Pakistani police arrested Ishaq in connection with attacks on January 10 and February 16, 2013 in the northwestern city of Quetta, Pakistan that killed nearly 200 Pakistani civilians. LJ claimed responsibility for the Quetta bombings.
In addition to Ishaq’s designation under E.O. 13224, the Department of State has also reviewed and maintained the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of LJ in accordance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. LJ specializes in armed attacks and bombings and has admitted responsibility for numerous killings of Shia religious and civil society leaders in Pakistan. LJ claimed responsibility for a 2013 attack in a crowded billiards hall in Quetta that resulted in the deaths of 80 Pakistanis.
As a result of maintaining the FTO designation, the legal consequences of the designation remain in place, including the prohibition against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to LJ, and the freezing of all LJ assets under the control or possession of U.S. financial institutions.
The Department took these actions in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Treasury.
Source: US Department of State
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
"Unity, faith, discipline aur TOLERANCE" Ibtihaj
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While driving down Khayaban-e-Ittehad today I asked Ibtihaj "Ittehad ka matlab pata hai". He looked at his father and inquired "Ittehad?". His father replied "Unity!". Ittehad reacted "Oh, unity faith discipline." His father added "Haan Quaid-e-Azam ka three point: unity, faith and discipline."
Ibtihaj remarked "Nahi. 3 nahi 4 points. Unity, faith, discipline aur TOLERANCE."
I couldn't believe my ears. Jinnah sb never added that 4th point but this 11 year old knows Tolerance is the need of the hour.
P.S. In the past three days the Karachi Political Circle got complete. Representatives from PPP, PTI and MQM all met with Ibtihaj and sat down to listen to the concerns of the Hazara community as narrated by Ibtihaj's father. Ignorance is not an excuse anymore. I hope some action by some party will be taken.
Ibtihaj remarked "Nahi. 3 nahi 4 points. Unity, faith, discipline aur TOLERANCE."
I couldn't believe my ears. Jinnah sb never added that 4th point but this 11 year old knows Tolerance is the need of the hour.
P.S. In the past three days the Karachi Political Circle got complete. Representatives from PPP, PTI and MQM all met with Ibtihaj and sat down to listen to the concerns of the Hazara community as narrated by Ibtihaj's father. Ignorance is not an excuse anymore. I hope some action by some party will be taken.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Karachi embraced Ibtihaj with love and support but will you do the same, Bilawal Bhutto?
By Jibran Nasir Published: February 4, 2014
Bilawal can achieve better by standing with them on Alamdar Road in Quetta, not by sitting behind the tall walls of Bilawal House. PHOTO: JIBRAN NASIR
On the morning of January 27, 2014, I was looking up air tickets to fly to Quetta to meet the victims of the Mastung blast. None of my friends or family members were excited about this proposition.
Much to their relief, eight of the victims were shifted to the Agha Khan Univeristy Hospital (AKUH) at Karachi the same afternoon. I met 11-year-old Ibtihaj along with a few of my friends that same evening. He was a little overwhelmed, being suddenly surrounded by so many strange faces. A large number of the visitors were of the Hazara community members based in Karachi.
Later that day, I also met other victims whose names most have not heard and whose faces most have not seen on social or television media – and hence they haven’t received due attention.
There is 20-year-old Mehrin who still does not know that she, like Ibtihaj, has lost her mother and sister in the blast.
There is Zakir, who has lost one leg but not the will to walk again.
There is Saadat, who was once a professional bodybuilder but is now paralysed from the waist below.
There is Mujtaba, who has severe injuries in both his legs but a huge smile on his face, knowing that he would only know the full extent of his recovery once he is able to stand again on his feet.
Zakir, Saadat and Mujtaba are of humble means and the providers of their families.
As days progressed, my friendship with Ibtihaj and Mehrin grew. It was easy befriending them because, given that they do not have knowledge of the deaths in their family, one can talk only about happy things in life with them. You can engage them with topics like sports, music, animals (Mehrin is doing her BS in Zoology) and Facebook....Continue Reading...
Bilawal can achieve better by standing with them on Alamdar Road in Quetta, not by sitting behind the tall walls of Bilawal House. PHOTO: JIBRAN NASIR
On the morning of January 27, 2014, I was looking up air tickets to fly to Quetta to meet the victims of the Mastung blast. None of my friends or family members were excited about this proposition.
Much to their relief, eight of the victims were shifted to the Agha Khan Univeristy Hospital (AKUH) at Karachi the same afternoon. I met 11-year-old Ibtihaj along with a few of my friends that same evening. He was a little overwhelmed, being suddenly surrounded by so many strange faces. A large number of the visitors were of the Hazara community members based in Karachi.
Later that day, I also met other victims whose names most have not heard and whose faces most have not seen on social or television media – and hence they haven’t received due attention.
There is 20-year-old Mehrin who still does not know that she, like Ibtihaj, has lost her mother and sister in the blast.
There is Zakir, who has lost one leg but not the will to walk again.
There is Saadat, who was once a professional bodybuilder but is now paralysed from the waist below.
There is Mujtaba, who has severe injuries in both his legs but a huge smile on his face, knowing that he would only know the full extent of his recovery once he is able to stand again on his feet.
Zakir, Saadat and Mujtaba are of humble means and the providers of their families.
As days progressed, my friendship with Ibtihaj and Mehrin grew. It was easy befriending them because, given that they do not have knowledge of the deaths in their family, one can talk only about happy things in life with them. You can engage them with topics like sports, music, animals (Mehrin is doing her BS in Zoology) and Facebook....Continue Reading...
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Friday, January 31, 2014
Spanish cyclist disputes claim that 6 levies men died protecting him in Balochistan
By Web Desk
Published: January 31, 2014
NEW DELHI: Spanish cyclist Federico Javier Colorado Soriano, who narrowly escaped an attack in Mastung, and survived another grenade attack just 12 hours later in the troubled district of Balochistan, has disputed the claim that six levies personnel had died protecting him, Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reported on Thursday.
Colorado, who spoke to La Vanguardia in the safety of New Delhi, recalled the harrowing events in Balochistan, where he was not allowed to cycle. He told the paper that he was waiting at a check post just 300 meters behind a bus carrying pilgrims, which was attacked with a suicide bomb. His camera was recording at the time and somehow he managed to capture the blast on video. The explosion had killed at least 30 pilgrims and left over 50 injured.
The cyclist said that ever since he crossed the Iran-Pakistan border, he was escorted by various members of the security forces who always transported him in their vehicles. However, he disputed the number of security personnel that he was being escorted by at the time of the attack. “Just after crossing into Pakistan from Iran, I was awarded two escorts, the Balochistan levies.”
Following the bus bomb attack on January 21, he was held in a police station overnight for safety and allowed to travel the following morning. Even after the explosion, Colorado was loaded into a van with only one gunman and a driver, with no following vehicle.
A little after they passed the destroyed bus on the Mastung highway, Colorado’s vehicle came under a bomb and gun attack in which he was injured just above his left temple. Colorado toldLa Vanguardia that the attack happened barely three minutes after they crossed the bus (visible in his video). He adds that contrary to the official version in which the deaths of six and injuries to three levies personnel is claimed, none of the two men accompanying him were injured, nor did he see anyone else die.
In the video, which he has uploaded on to the internet, Colorado can be seen lying on his stomach on the bed of the pickup truck with his cycle, holding the camera with one arm and his injured head with the other. In the video, an armed levies’ guard can be seen standing over Colorado while a second man, possibly the driver, walks around to the back of the vehicle and inquires whether the Spaniard is ok.
To this Colorado tells the driver in Spanish and broken English to keep going.
Later at the hospital in Quetta, one of the guards accompanying Colorado tells an attendant in Urdu that they had just escaped a blast and that four to five levies personnel had been killed, while at least three others were injured.
La Vanguardia further reports that according to Colorado, he was flown to Lahore where he stayed in his room for 36-hours with two ‘agents’ outside his door.
When he contacted his family in Madrid he read the official statement that he was given. But in New Delhi, he uploaded the video and said that he could no longer keep quiet about what had really happened.
Published: January 31, 2014
NEW DELHI: Spanish cyclist Federico Javier Colorado Soriano, who narrowly escaped an attack in Mastung, and survived another grenade attack just 12 hours later in the troubled district of Balochistan, has disputed the claim that six levies personnel had died protecting him, Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reported on Thursday.
Colorado, who spoke to La Vanguardia in the safety of New Delhi, recalled the harrowing events in Balochistan, where he was not allowed to cycle. He told the paper that he was waiting at a check post just 300 meters behind a bus carrying pilgrims, which was attacked with a suicide bomb. His camera was recording at the time and somehow he managed to capture the blast on video. The explosion had killed at least 30 pilgrims and left over 50 injured.
The cyclist said that ever since he crossed the Iran-Pakistan border, he was escorted by various members of the security forces who always transported him in their vehicles. However, he disputed the number of security personnel that he was being escorted by at the time of the attack. “Just after crossing into Pakistan from Iran, I was awarded two escorts, the Balochistan levies.”
Following the bus bomb attack on January 21, he was held in a police station overnight for safety and allowed to travel the following morning. Even after the explosion, Colorado was loaded into a van with only one gunman and a driver, with no following vehicle.
A little after they passed the destroyed bus on the Mastung highway, Colorado’s vehicle came under a bomb and gun attack in which he was injured just above his left temple. Colorado toldLa Vanguardia that the attack happened barely three minutes after they crossed the bus (visible in his video). He adds that contrary to the official version in which the deaths of six and injuries to three levies personnel is claimed, none of the two men accompanying him were injured, nor did he see anyone else die.
In the video, which he has uploaded on to the internet, Colorado can be seen lying on his stomach on the bed of the pickup truck with his cycle, holding the camera with one arm and his injured head with the other. In the video, an armed levies’ guard can be seen standing over Colorado while a second man, possibly the driver, walks around to the back of the vehicle and inquires whether the Spaniard is ok.
To this Colorado tells the driver in Spanish and broken English to keep going.
Later at the hospital in Quetta, one of the guards accompanying Colorado tells an attendant in Urdu that they had just escaped a blast and that four to five levies personnel had been killed, while at least three others were injured.
La Vanguardia further reports that according to Colorado, he was flown to Lahore where he stayed in his room for 36-hours with two ‘agents’ outside his door.
When he contacted his family in Madrid he read the official statement that he was given. But in New Delhi, he uploaded the video and said that he could no longer keep quiet about what had really happened.
A constant state of denial
January 28, 2014
MARVI SIRMED
After Pakistan’s Hazara community lost around three dozens precious lives last week, protests from Shia community erupted throughout Pakistan. The protesters were demanding targeted operation by the state against the perpetrators of massacre. Familiar images were repeated on 24/7 news media showing victims’ families in the sit-in with bodies of their loved ones in front of them. One has had it a year ago when around 90 dead bodies of Hazara Shias protested in the same manner, with similar demands. A year on and their demands are far from being heard, promises of the state further from being realized, culprits even further from facing justice and persecution of the victim community persisting with even more vigor.
A picture of Hazara siblings with sister clinging lovingly to her brother went viral. The sister had died at the spot while the brother was fighting his injuries. Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party released a photo with his sister in the same pose and with a little placard in hands expressing solidarity and inviting public support to the victims. One came across similar sentiment of solidarity and empathy going through umpteen talk shows on current affairs media and in the garrulous circles of the capital. The spirit however, suddenly evaporated when one would beseech them to participate in the sit-ins. Fear, distrust on the state to protect or ideological complicity? One wouldn’t know. But the otherwise vocal citizenry for secular and progressive Pakistan went unbearably silent.
Looking at the state incompetence coupled with criminal complicity, one can’t blame this silent faction of empathetic populace, which manages to still exist in whatever numbers after all these decades of sheer rupture of inflated illusion of state writ. Why are the Hazara victims of this continued violence? Why are the perpetrators still at large?.... Continue Reading ....
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Of justice for the Hazaras
I.A. REHMAN
Published 2014-01-30 07:40:24
THE emergency measures taken after the nationwide protest at the latest round of killing of pilgrims in Mastung district offer little assurance that a way to end the ordeal of the Hazara community has been found.
While no breakthrough in efforts to nab the culprits has been reported public attention has been focused on the air-lifting of hundreds of pilgrims from Dalbandin to Quetta. Welcome though this operation has been it has also thrown up a few disquieting issues.
First, the volume of the annual pilgrim traffic to and from Iran has proved to be quite large, and the need to manage it has obviously been ignored year after year. Secondly, the administration has conceded its inability to guarantee security of road travel. And, thirdly, there is a danger that a large piece of territory may pass into the hands of militants determined to harass the governments of Pakistan and Iran both. Neither air flights nor a ferry service along the Makran coast will alter the situation.
This means that the anti-Hazara militias will have greater freedom and capacity to continue their murderous attacks on the beleaguered community. What does this portend for the Hazaras (the Shia majority among them, as the small number of Sunni Hazaras are not targeted) and Balochistan?
Since no firm attempt has been made to subdue them, the gangs engaged in massacring the Hazaras consider themselves free to persist in their criminal acts and the threat to the Hazaras remains unabated. The seriousness of this threat can be gauged only if one takes stock of Hazara losses since 2003, when their mass killing began. Forty-seven people were killed in July 2003 in an attack on an imambargah; 36 perished in March 2004 when the Ashura procession was attacked; 63 were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Youm-i-Quds procession in 2010; 26 pilgrims were killed in Mastung in September 2011 and more than 100 were killed in the Alamdar Road massacre last year...Continue Reading...
Published 2014-01-30 07:40:24
THE emergency measures taken after the nationwide protest at the latest round of killing of pilgrims in Mastung district offer little assurance that a way to end the ordeal of the Hazara community has been found.
While no breakthrough in efforts to nab the culprits has been reported public attention has been focused on the air-lifting of hundreds of pilgrims from Dalbandin to Quetta. Welcome though this operation has been it has also thrown up a few disquieting issues.
First, the volume of the annual pilgrim traffic to and from Iran has proved to be quite large, and the need to manage it has obviously been ignored year after year. Secondly, the administration has conceded its inability to guarantee security of road travel. And, thirdly, there is a danger that a large piece of territory may pass into the hands of militants determined to harass the governments of Pakistan and Iran both. Neither air flights nor a ferry service along the Makran coast will alter the situation.
This means that the anti-Hazara militias will have greater freedom and capacity to continue their murderous attacks on the beleaguered community. What does this portend for the Hazaras (the Shia majority among them, as the small number of Sunni Hazaras are not targeted) and Balochistan?
Since no firm attempt has been made to subdue them, the gangs engaged in massacring the Hazaras consider themselves free to persist in their criminal acts and the threat to the Hazaras remains unabated. The seriousness of this threat can be gauged only if one takes stock of Hazara losses since 2003, when their mass killing began. Forty-seven people were killed in July 2003 in an attack on an imambargah; 36 perished in March 2004 when the Ashura procession was attacked; 63 were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Youm-i-Quds procession in 2010; 26 pilgrims were killed in Mastung in September 2011 and more than 100 were killed in the Alamdar Road massacre last year...Continue Reading...
Balochistan bleeding
Dr Mohammad Taqi
January 30, 2014
Is the chief minister not aware that the Hazaras cannot move freely between Hazara Town and Mariabad, Quetta without risking executions? That a people are being ghettoised in the 21st century on his watch seems completely lost on Dr Baloch
The beleaguered ShiaHazara community of Quetta has dug yet another mass grave for its loved ones slaughtered in the Mastung bombing by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) as they were returning from a pilgrimage in Iraq and Iran. The Hazaras, one of the most peaceful people in Pakistan, had just commemorated the anniversary of the massacre perpetrated on them by the LeJvia twin suicide bombings last January in Quetta. A hundred HazaraShias died in that attack. Before thatthe LeJ had executed 26 HazaraShias in an ambush in Mastung in September 2011 and another 15 in Quetta in June 2012 as they were returning from a pilgrimage. It seems nothing has changed for the hapless Hazaras. The then provincial and federal governments led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had promised action against the LeJ just as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) has done now. One will have to see it to believe it. Till then, the HazaraShias are on their own.
The cavalier attitude of the Balochistan chief ministers has perhaps also remained the same. When asked about the plight of the HazaraShias, the former chief ministerAslamRaisani offered to send them a truckload of tissue papers. The current chief minister, DrMalikBaloch, was not as callous as MrRaisani and did show up at the peaceful protest organised by the HazaraShias. However, his proposed — and later enforced — solution to the ongoing tragedy was just as inconsiderate. DrBaloch said that the pilgrim buses should stop using the land route through Mastung and go to Karachi instead. He suggested a ferry service between Pakistan and Iran with the voyage starting preferably from Karachi. The television anchor asking him the question might not have known but it is just not possible that DrBaloch is not aware that the shortest route from Quetta to Karachi also goes through Mastung. Whatever the easiest way to Karachi may be, DrBaloch, a supposedly enlightened and progressive leader, was clearly taking a detour around responsibility. What does he have to say about the ShiaHazara vendors getting killed in Quetta? Is the chief minister not aware that the Hazaras cannot move freely betweenHazara Town and Mariabad, Quetta without risking executions? That a people are being ghettoised in the 21st century on his watch seems completely lost on DrBaloch.....Continue Reading...
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
The boy who lived: Mastung attack survivors find solace in unexpected compatriot
By Rabia Ali
Published: January 29, 2014
Eleven-year-old boy lifts the spirits of survivors at hospital.
KARACHI: It is at times of severe distress that a person’s true substance really comes to the fore. It is at these times too that events happen that inspire us to believe there is still hope for this world. One such tale is that of one of the survivors of the Mastung bus bombing, Muhammad Ibtihaj, who has taken up the task of lifting the spirits of the other injured.
The 11-year-old chubby faced with a cute smile can hardly be found at his bed in the children’s ward at the Aga Khan Hospital where he is being treated for scars on his right side of his face – courtesy of the explosion. Rather, the boy takes slow steps, climbs up the stairs and walks up to the ward where seven adult pilgrims are being treated for their burns and other crippling injuries. Unaware of the loved ones he has lost in the incident, Ibtihaj has become a source of welcome relief for the other injured.
“I want to help them because they are in trouble,” smiles the boy shyly, as he shows the thumbs up sign to one patient and then hugs him tight.
“He is more than a brother. His strength keeps us alive,” whispers Hussain Saadat, one of those injured in the explosion, as his eyes fill with tears.
Clad in a blue patient’s shirt, white trousers, and a muffler he was wearing when the attack occurred, Ibtihaj, whose name means happiness in Arabic, has certainly become a source of joy for those battling for their lives. He sits with them, laughs and jokes and even complains to his father when they don’t eat.
Zakir Hussain, who has lost both his legs, shakes his hands and smiles, “We became friends on the bus and now we are here together.”
The boy does not show signs of being traumatised by the tragic incident, and only says this about it: “They should be punished – those who did bad things to us.”
A student of fifth grade at the APSC Seven Streams School in Quetta, the boy and his sister came into the limelight after their picture in school uniforms, winking and rolling out their tongues, was shared and circulated by many on the social media, including Pakistan Peoples Party’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Looking at the picture now in his elder brother’s phone, Ibtihaj, who is a Barcelona football fan, and has four Karate belts, recalls, “I like this picture. It was taken five months ago.”
Also present at the hospital is Ibtihaj’s father, Jawad Hazara, who had stayed behind while his family had gone for the pilgrimage. A businessman by profession, Hazara is visibly traumatised by the tragedy he has faced. “Imagine a man’s condition when he can’t recognise his own family. I could not discern the burnt bodies of my loved ones.”
Ibtihaj’s elder brother, Mairaj, was one of the other lucky survivors of the incident. They had both been sitting at the back of the bus when the explosion occurred. This is probably what saved their life.
“He is very brave. I’m more scared than him. He wants to join the air force when he grows up, but now impressed by his behaviour, I want him to work for humanity.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2014.
Published: January 29, 2014
Eleven-year-old boy lifts the spirits of survivors at hospital.
KARACHI: It is at times of severe distress that a person’s true substance really comes to the fore. It is at these times too that events happen that inspire us to believe there is still hope for this world. One such tale is that of one of the survivors of the Mastung bus bombing, Muhammad Ibtihaj, who has taken up the task of lifting the spirits of the other injured.
The 11-year-old chubby faced with a cute smile can hardly be found at his bed in the children’s ward at the Aga Khan Hospital where he is being treated for scars on his right side of his face – courtesy of the explosion. Rather, the boy takes slow steps, climbs up the stairs and walks up to the ward where seven adult pilgrims are being treated for their burns and other crippling injuries. Unaware of the loved ones he has lost in the incident, Ibtihaj has become a source of welcome relief for the other injured.
“I want to help them because they are in trouble,” smiles the boy shyly, as he shows the thumbs up sign to one patient and then hugs him tight.
“He is more than a brother. His strength keeps us alive,” whispers Hussain Saadat, one of those injured in the explosion, as his eyes fill with tears.
Clad in a blue patient’s shirt, white trousers, and a muffler he was wearing when the attack occurred, Ibtihaj, whose name means happiness in Arabic, has certainly become a source of joy for those battling for their lives. He sits with them, laughs and jokes and even complains to his father when they don’t eat.
Zakir Hussain, who has lost both his legs, shakes his hands and smiles, “We became friends on the bus and now we are here together.”
The boy does not show signs of being traumatised by the tragic incident, and only says this about it: “They should be punished – those who did bad things to us.”
A student of fifth grade at the APSC Seven Streams School in Quetta, the boy and his sister came into the limelight after their picture in school uniforms, winking and rolling out their tongues, was shared and circulated by many on the social media, including Pakistan Peoples Party’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Looking at the picture now in his elder brother’s phone, Ibtihaj, who is a Barcelona football fan, and has four Karate belts, recalls, “I like this picture. It was taken five months ago.”
Also present at the hospital is Ibtihaj’s father, Jawad Hazara, who had stayed behind while his family had gone for the pilgrimage. A businessman by profession, Hazara is visibly traumatised by the tragedy he has faced. “Imagine a man’s condition when he can’t recognise his own family. I could not discern the burnt bodies of my loved ones.”
Ibtihaj’s elder brother, Mairaj, was one of the other lucky survivors of the incident. They had both been sitting at the back of the bus when the explosion occurred. This is probably what saved their life.
“He is very brave. I’m more scared than him. He wants to join the air force when he grows up, but now impressed by his behaviour, I want him to work for humanity.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2014.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Letter to LEJ by a Young Kafir
January 26, 2014 · by shahwar hasan · in Editorial
Assalam-0-alaikum and good morning MUSALMAN. It’s me. Do you recognize me? My name is Kafar. I hope by now you do know who I am. It’s been a while that i wanted to write to you and share with you what I am feeling right now, and probably give you some advise as well, just in case you’ve become lesser and lesser conscious about me due to army’s recent (Dramatic) tanning of your’s and by dramatic I mean to say FAKE but nevertheless it looked real and therefore i felt compelled to write to you.
Let me give you a recall. You’ve already killed 2000+ members of my family ranging from a 3 year old kid to 60-70 year olds, but I haven’t acted seriously yet and therefore i think you owe me your life for that. I have been patient, I’ve been tolerant. I’ve gulped all my anger. You know why? Because I don’t think you deserve my wrath. You are just too pathetic. You come and kill in the name of Islam. What Islam is this? Is this Islam, which you so heroically represent even a religion? Does Islam tell or show you how to blow yourself up and kill a dozen more along with you as well? Does Islam command you to chop off the heads of un-armed civilians? Does Islam teach you to kill women? Does Islam teach you how to torture a captive? Does Islam teach you how to incite violence? Does Islam teach you how to demolish a Mosque with bombs and rockets? NO you ignorant fool. Islam teaches brotherhood. Islam shows how to help someone who’s in need. Islam shows you how to respect each other. Islam teaches you Manliness. Islam teaches you bravery. Islam teaches you how to treat a woman. Islam teaches you to take care of an orphan if you can, not try to turn an innocent into an orphan by killing his/her parents.... Continue Reading ....
Assalam-0-alaikum and good morning MUSALMAN. It’s me. Do you recognize me? My name is Kafar. I hope by now you do know who I am. It’s been a while that i wanted to write to you and share with you what I am feeling right now, and probably give you some advise as well, just in case you’ve become lesser and lesser conscious about me due to army’s recent (Dramatic) tanning of your’s and by dramatic I mean to say FAKE but nevertheless it looked real and therefore i felt compelled to write to you.
Let me give you a recall. You’ve already killed 2000+ members of my family ranging from a 3 year old kid to 60-70 year olds, but I haven’t acted seriously yet and therefore i think you owe me your life for that. I have been patient, I’ve been tolerant. I’ve gulped all my anger. You know why? Because I don’t think you deserve my wrath. You are just too pathetic. You come and kill in the name of Islam. What Islam is this? Is this Islam, which you so heroically represent even a religion? Does Islam tell or show you how to blow yourself up and kill a dozen more along with you as well? Does Islam command you to chop off the heads of un-armed civilians? Does Islam teach you to kill women? Does Islam teach you how to torture a captive? Does Islam teach you how to incite violence? Does Islam teach you how to demolish a Mosque with bombs and rockets? NO you ignorant fool. Islam teaches brotherhood. Islam shows how to help someone who’s in need. Islam shows you how to respect each other. Islam teaches you Manliness. Islam teaches you bravery. Islam teaches you how to treat a woman. Islam teaches you to take care of an orphan if you can, not try to turn an innocent into an orphan by killing his/her parents.... Continue Reading ....
Know my name
FOUZIA NASIR AHMAD
Published 2014-01-26 07:39:10
It was Jan 13, 2013, when 21-year-old Eltaf Hussain was on his way to the dharna outside Bilawal House, Karachi to protest against Hazara killings in Quetta. “How can the rest of the world go on with their daily business, when such a terrible incident has happened to us?” he thought? “Why doesn’t the world stop after so many people have been killed?”
Hussain belongs to the Hazara community of Quetta, a city where he has spent most of his young life. “After completing my intermediate at the Tameer-i-Nau Public College in Quetta, I took a year off as things became dramatically worse for Hazaras. One day my father said to me: ‘you can’t live your life like this’. I then decided to move to Karachi with the sole purpose of continuing my education as it was impossible to do that in Quetta.”
While the Alamdar Road massacre projected the plight of the Hazara onto the national consciousness, it was by no means the beginning of the pogroms against this community.
“I remember that a long time back I was with my father at Sariab Road and he wanted me to wear dark glasses to cover my eyes. I was annoyed even though I knew that anybody can tell from our eyes that we are Hazara.
Later I realised why my father was saying that. He always wore glasses himself. Not long ago, I had to go to the Board Office in Quetta and I covered my face. I wasn’t happy doing this but I knew that this way I would be safer. Things have changed for us over time.”
The year 2008 was a turning point for Pakistan’s Hazaras, when individuals from the community began to be targeted regularly. “Government officials from our community, professionals and even police officers were killed,” recalls Hussain. “There was an incident in Jinnah Town, and then two people were killed on Samundari Road. Wherever they would see a Hazara person, they would kill him,” said Hussain.
While the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has claimed credit for the mass casualty attacks, Hussain suspects there are also those who are seeking to exploit the situation.... Continue Reading.....
Published 2014-01-26 07:39:10
It was Jan 13, 2013, when 21-year-old Eltaf Hussain was on his way to the dharna outside Bilawal House, Karachi to protest against Hazara killings in Quetta. “How can the rest of the world go on with their daily business, when such a terrible incident has happened to us?” he thought? “Why doesn’t the world stop after so many people have been killed?”
Hussain belongs to the Hazara community of Quetta, a city where he has spent most of his young life. “After completing my intermediate at the Tameer-i-Nau Public College in Quetta, I took a year off as things became dramatically worse for Hazaras. One day my father said to me: ‘you can’t live your life like this’. I then decided to move to Karachi with the sole purpose of continuing my education as it was impossible to do that in Quetta.”
While the Alamdar Road massacre projected the plight of the Hazara onto the national consciousness, it was by no means the beginning of the pogroms against this community.
“I remember that a long time back I was with my father at Sariab Road and he wanted me to wear dark glasses to cover my eyes. I was annoyed even though I knew that anybody can tell from our eyes that we are Hazara.
Later I realised why my father was saying that. He always wore glasses himself. Not long ago, I had to go to the Board Office in Quetta and I covered my face. I wasn’t happy doing this but I knew that this way I would be safer. Things have changed for us over time.”
The year 2008 was a turning point for Pakistan’s Hazaras, when individuals from the community began to be targeted regularly. “Government officials from our community, professionals and even police officers were killed,” recalls Hussain. “There was an incident in Jinnah Town, and then two people were killed on Samundari Road. Wherever they would see a Hazara person, they would kill him,” said Hussain.
While the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has claimed credit for the mass casualty attacks, Hussain suspects there are also those who are seeking to exploit the situation.... Continue Reading.....
A state of siege
MADEEHA SYED
Updated 2014-01-26 18:07:04
Madeeha Syed speaks to Human Rights Watch's Ali Dayan Hasan about the state and predicament of the Hazara in Quetta
A year after the deadly attacks on the Hazara community, what is the situation now?
While Shias across Pakistan have faced increasingly vicious attacks, a disproportionate number of attacks - the latest being the Jan 21st attack on a pilgrim’s bus in Mastung - have targeted the small Hazara community. Of Shias killed across Pakistan in 2012, around a quarter of the victims were Quetta Hazaras. In 2013, a little under half of those killed were from that community. It is true that major attacks on the scale of January and February 2013 have not taken place since last year. But major attacks are only one aspect of the crisis faced by the community. Survivors and family members of victims describe the effects of a campaign of killings that has targeted all segments of the Hazara community. Hazaras live a ghetto existence, fearful of going about the normal business of life. Hazara religious pilgrims, students, shopkeepers, vegetable sellers, doctors and other professionals have been targeted leading to not just widespread fear but increasingly restricted movement leading to a ghettoisation of community members, increasing economic hardship and curtailed access to education.
How many are opting to flee their homes? And where are they going?
Large numbers are fleeing Pakistan in panic and seeking asylum abroad, even risking their lives in the process. Unable to cope with death stalking them at every turn, many hundreds have fled Quetta for Karachi or other parts of Pakistan. Yet further hundreds have fled Pakistan altogether. Those fleeing usually seek to go to Australia risking a dangerous sea journey that has repeatedly proved fatal. In April 2013, some 60 Hazaras died when their boat sunk in Indonesian waters enroute Australia. These journeys are not only dangerous and expensive, they are often deadly. Almost 1,000 people have died on the crossing from Indonesia to Australia over the last decade — scores of them Hazaras from Pakistan... Continue Reading....
Saturday, January 25, 2014
حکومت کا ایران جانے والے پاکستانی زائرین کوفضائی سروس فراہم کرنےکا فیصلہ
12:17:03 AM ہفتہ, 25 جنوری 2014
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اسٹاف رپورٹ
اسلام آباد : حکومت نے ایران جانے والے پاکستانی زائرین کو فضائی سروس فراہم کرنے کا فیصلہ کر لیا، زائرین پر فضائی سروس کے اضافی اخراجات کا بوجھ بھی نہیں ڈالا جائے گا۔
سرکاری ذرائع کے مطابق حکومت نے ایران جانے والے پاکستانی زائرین کی زندگیوں کو لاحق خطرات کے پیش نظر فضائی سروس فراہم کرنے کا فیصلہ کیا ہے۔
پاک فضائیہ کے سی ون تھرٹی طیاروں کے بیڑے کو یہ سہولت فراہم کرنے کے احکامات دیئے جائیں گے۔ ایران کی سرحد کے قریب سے زائرین کو لے جانے اور واپس لانے کیلئے یہ سہولت فراہم کیا جا رہی ہے۔
گزشتہ شب وفاقی وزیرخزانہ اسحاق ڈار سے پاک فضائیہ کے سربراہ ایئرچیف مارشل طاہر رفیق بٹ کی ملاقات میں اس سروس پر اخراجات کا اندازہ لگایا گیا ہے۔
زائرین سے زمینی سفر کے اخراجات ہی لئے جائیں گے اور ان پر فضائی سہولت سے اٹھنے والے اضافی اخراجات کا بوجھ نہیں ڈالا جائے گا۔
Friday, January 24, 2014
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