Balochistan killings

IT is not for the first time that Hazara Shia minority is targeted by sectarian outfits in Balochistan.

According to media reports, 29 pilgrims were killed while going to Iran, including three other people who were trying to bring the injured to a hospital.

According to the bus driver, Khushhal Khan, the victims’ identity cards were checked before they were assassinated to ascertain their sectarian background.

Fortunately the bus driver and cleaner were left unharmed.

The assistant commissioner of Mustang has called it a sectarian attack, as the banned outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for both the attacks.

The Hazaras who migrated from Central Asia over 100 years ago have been an easy target because of their distinct Mongoloid features.

They have been targets of religious violence since the mid-1980s; however, the attacks on them began to intensify after the start of the ‘war on terror’ when the Taliban scattered in Pakistani cities, particularly in the tribal belt and Quetta.

According to media reports, almost 500 Hazaras have been killed since 2000. Unfortunately most of the right-wing politicians who have been very vocal against drone attacks have failed to raise their voice against these brutal attacks.

I want to remind the government of its basic duty of protecting the lives of its citizens.

IRFAN HUSSAIN
London

Shocking news

WHILE the whole country is reeling under the shock of unprecedented rains and floods which have caused untold damage, particularly in Sindh, we get another horrifying news of the massacre of 30 pilgrims in Mastung.

One news said that these poor pilgrims were taken out one by one from the ill-fated bus and shot. How can a human being be so cruel?

I have been wondering why and for what cause such dastardly acts are committed.

S.M. ANWAR
Karachi

Source,

The Dawn