Please click open the link below to get pdf file including the list of 435 Hazaras targeted killed, their father names, professions, places, dates of their martyrdom and places of their burial...
List of targeted Killed Hazaras in Quetta
Saturday, December 24, 2011
A week on, govt ‘takes notice’ of boat tragedy
QUETTA: The tragedy occurred a few days ago but for the families of both, victims and survivors, the misery is not yet over. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, taking notice of the Indonesian boat tragedy which claimed lives of over 37 Pakistanis from Quetta, directed the Indonesian ambassador to help ensure arrangements in bringing their bodies back to Pakistan...Continue Reading...
Friday, December 23, 2011
India Group Seeks $7.8B Funding for Afghan Iron
By Rajesh Kumar Singh - Dec 22, 2011 10:31 AM PT
An Indian government-backed group that won rights to mine Afghanistan’s biggest iron ore deposit has sought $7.8 billion in state aid and loans to develop the venture, two people with direct knowledge of the plan said.
India’s steel ministry backs the proposal by the Afghan Iron & Steel Consortium, which comprises seven companies led by state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), the people said, declining to be identified because details of the plan are confidential. The ministry will seek approvals from the foreign and finance ministries, they said, without giving a timeframe.
The group plans to spend $11 billion to mine the Hajigak deposit west of Kabul, build a steel mill, a power plant and transport links. The project will help India overtake China as the biggest overseas investor in Afghanistan, which the U.S. says holds $1 trillion in untapped mineral reserves, and increase its strategic presence in the war-ravaged nation.
“We have told the government that it will be difficult to raise debt for the Afghanistan project and the government should help us in getting that funding either through sovereign guarantees or any other means,” Steel Authority Chairman C.S. Verma said by telephone yesterday, declining to give details.
The group is seeking $5.5 billion of 30-year interest-free loans to fund the debt component of a planned 6 million metric ton-a-year steel plant and $2.35 billion in aid for building an 800-megawatt power plant, railway, road and power transmission lines around the project, the two people said. The seven companies will contribute about $3.2 billion toward equity in the venture, they said.
Hajigak Rights
President Hamid Karzai’s Cabinet last month awarded the Afghan Iron & Steel Consortium the rights to mine three out of four blocks of Hajigak, a series of rugged mountain ridges 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Kabul. The deposit holds an estimated 1.8 billion metric tons of ore, almost as big as India’s largest iron ore mine.
The group includes state-run companies Rasthriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. and NMDC Ltd. (NMDC), and non-state companies JSW Steel Ltd. (JSTL), JSW Ispat Steel Ltd., Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSP) and Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd. (MISP) Seshagiri Rao, chief financial officer for JSW Steel and JSW Ispat, didn’t answer four calls to his mobile phone. Spokesmen for the other companies and secretary at the steel ministry declined to comment on the details of the plan.
“The consortium will request for sovereign guarantees for providing financial assistance to the consortium by way of interest-free long-term loan, grant-in-aid, etc., for steel, infrastructure and port related projects,” Steel Authority said in a Nov. 30 statement.
Chinese Investments
The group has separately proposed building a 900-kilometer railway line from Bamiyan in Afghanistan to Zahedan in Iran at a cost of $4.3 billion. The railway line will help ship ore from Hajigak back to India via Iran.
The Indian venture overtakes Metallurgical Corp. of China plan to spend $2.9 billion on the Aynak copper deposit as the biggest overseas investment in Afghanistan. The Chinese state company won the right in 2007 to mine the biggest copper state deposit in Afghanistan by pledging to build a coal mine, power plant, smelter and railroad.
This year, China National Petroleum Corp. offered the highest royalty and a refinery to win Afghanistan’s first oilfield auction last month, using a strategy that helped Chinese companies gain access to African resources. Chinese companies have announced $43.35 billion in energy and mining acquisitions overseas this year, compared with $3.91 billion by Indian companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi at rsingh133@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net
Bloomberg
An Indian government-backed group that won rights to mine Afghanistan’s biggest iron ore deposit has sought $7.8 billion in state aid and loans to develop the venture, two people with direct knowledge of the plan said.
India’s steel ministry backs the proposal by the Afghan Iron & Steel Consortium, which comprises seven companies led by state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), the people said, declining to be identified because details of the plan are confidential. The ministry will seek approvals from the foreign and finance ministries, they said, without giving a timeframe.
The group plans to spend $11 billion to mine the Hajigak deposit west of Kabul, build a steel mill, a power plant and transport links. The project will help India overtake China as the biggest overseas investor in Afghanistan, which the U.S. says holds $1 trillion in untapped mineral reserves, and increase its strategic presence in the war-ravaged nation.
“We have told the government that it will be difficult to raise debt for the Afghanistan project and the government should help us in getting that funding either through sovereign guarantees or any other means,” Steel Authority Chairman C.S. Verma said by telephone yesterday, declining to give details.
The group is seeking $5.5 billion of 30-year interest-free loans to fund the debt component of a planned 6 million metric ton-a-year steel plant and $2.35 billion in aid for building an 800-megawatt power plant, railway, road and power transmission lines around the project, the two people said. The seven companies will contribute about $3.2 billion toward equity in the venture, they said.
Hajigak Rights
President Hamid Karzai’s Cabinet last month awarded the Afghan Iron & Steel Consortium the rights to mine three out of four blocks of Hajigak, a series of rugged mountain ridges 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Kabul. The deposit holds an estimated 1.8 billion metric tons of ore, almost as big as India’s largest iron ore mine.
The group includes state-run companies Rasthriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. and NMDC Ltd. (NMDC), and non-state companies JSW Steel Ltd. (JSTL), JSW Ispat Steel Ltd., Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSP) and Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd. (MISP) Seshagiri Rao, chief financial officer for JSW Steel and JSW Ispat, didn’t answer four calls to his mobile phone. Spokesmen for the other companies and secretary at the steel ministry declined to comment on the details of the plan.
“The consortium will request for sovereign guarantees for providing financial assistance to the consortium by way of interest-free long-term loan, grant-in-aid, etc., for steel, infrastructure and port related projects,” Steel Authority said in a Nov. 30 statement.
Chinese Investments
The group has separately proposed building a 900-kilometer railway line from Bamiyan in Afghanistan to Zahedan in Iran at a cost of $4.3 billion. The railway line will help ship ore from Hajigak back to India via Iran.
The Indian venture overtakes Metallurgical Corp. of China plan to spend $2.9 billion on the Aynak copper deposit as the biggest overseas investment in Afghanistan. The Chinese state company won the right in 2007 to mine the biggest copper state deposit in Afghanistan by pledging to build a coal mine, power plant, smelter and railroad.
This year, China National Petroleum Corp. offered the highest royalty and a refinery to win Afghanistan’s first oilfield auction last month, using a strategy that helped Chinese companies gain access to African resources. Chinese companies have announced $43.35 billion in energy and mining acquisitions overseas this year, compared with $3.91 billion by Indian companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi at rsingh133@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net
Bloomberg
Malik takes notice of 55 drowned Pak nationals in Indonesia
South Asian News Agency (SANA) ⋅ December 23, 2011 ⋅
ISLAMABAD, (SANA): The Interior Minister Rehman Malik on the directions of President Asif Ali Zardari took serious notice of the drowning incident of 55 illegal Pakistani immigrants in Indonesia belongs to Quetta.
The interior minister directed the Pakistani High Commissioner in Indonesia to make arrangements to send the dead bodies of immediately to Pakistan and provide health facilities to other injured people.
The interior minister directed the interior secretary that he should contact the foreign office and the high commissioner in Indonesia to inform the Balochistan government and the relatives of concerned people to aware them with the real situation.
It is worth mentioning here that 55 residents of Quetta were on the way to illegal immigration to Australia via boat out of which 37 people were drowned in the see of island of Indonesia while the condition of remaining migrants is stated to be critical.
ISLAMABAD, (SANA): The Interior Minister Rehman Malik on the directions of President Asif Ali Zardari took serious notice of the drowning incident of 55 illegal Pakistani immigrants in Indonesia belongs to Quetta.
The interior minister directed the Pakistani High Commissioner in Indonesia to make arrangements to send the dead bodies of immediately to Pakistan and provide health facilities to other injured people.
The interior minister directed the interior secretary that he should contact the foreign office and the high commissioner in Indonesia to inform the Balochistan government and the relatives of concerned people to aware them with the real situation.
It is worth mentioning here that 55 residents of Quetta were on the way to illegal immigration to Australia via boat out of which 37 people were drowned in the see of island of Indonesia while the condition of remaining migrants is stated to be critical.
Indonesia boat tragedy: PDMA Balochistan sets up special cell
Published: December 23, 2011
QUETTA: Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Balochistan has set up a special cell to coordinate with families of the missing and those who survived after a boat capsized 90 km off the coast of Java (Indonesia) on December 19.
More than 200 passengers were reported to be missing after the boat capsized.
According to a statement by PDMA Balochistan, the desk at the authority’s office has been set up to help families identify the victims, most of whom belonged to Parachinar and Quetta.
The Hazara community has claimed that at least 70 people who belonged to Quetta were on board the boat when it capsized.
“Around 30 people have been rescued, while 40 are missing,” relatives said on the condition of anonymity.
PDMA has requested the families to provide the relevant details of the victims, including photos and copies of CNICs.
Express Tribune
QUETTA: Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Balochistan has set up a special cell to coordinate with families of the missing and those who survived after a boat capsized 90 km off the coast of Java (Indonesia) on December 19.
More than 200 passengers were reported to be missing after the boat capsized.
According to a statement by PDMA Balochistan, the desk at the authority’s office has been set up to help families identify the victims, most of whom belonged to Parachinar and Quetta.
The Hazara community has claimed that at least 70 people who belonged to Quetta were on board the boat when it capsized.
“Around 30 people have been rescued, while 40 are missing,” relatives said on the condition of anonymity.
PDMA has requested the families to provide the relevant details of the victims, including photos and copies of CNICs.
Express Tribune
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Mengal’s timely warning
By Imtiaz Gul
Published: December 21, 2011
The writer is the executive director of the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies, and a fellow of International House of Japan/Japan Foundation, Tokyo
The Veteran Baloch nationalist, Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal’s warning that atrocities against the Baloch have pushed the situation to a “point of no return” is timely. After his meeting with Nawaz Sharif in Karachi on December 19, Mengal came down hard on the Pakistani security establishment, holding ‘the Punjabi army’ responsible for inhuman acts against the Baloch people.
“The Baloch youth don’t want a Pakistan in which they receive mutilated bodies of their compatriots … they are being systematically eliminated and forced to seek refuge in the mountains,” said the former chief minister of Balochistan and the founding chief of the Balochistan National Party.
Mengal also accused Interior Minister Rehman Malik of hurling threats at the Baloch in the same way former president General Musharraf did. While many in Pakistan might dismiss part of Mengal’s loaded criticism of the centre and the army, the multiple crises in Balochistan do merit serious and urgent consideration.
There is little doubt that Balochistan is most probably as much a microcosm of Pakistan’s security and political crisis as is Fata. Almost 450 murders since January so far; dozens of abductions and hundreds of attacks on key security and utility installations suggest that the province is currently going through one of the worst political, economic and security crises in its history.
The growing influence of religious extremists in the province is noticeable from the fact that the highest number of attacks on Nato supplies were carried out in Balochistan during the last four years, apparently by Taliban or pro-Taliban elements. The unusual number of target killings of Hazaras also bears testimony to the increased involvement in sectarian terrorism of outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Most Pakistani security agencies, officials and people at large, usually suspect external forces such as Afghanistan, the US and India of stoking and supporting nationalist violence to allegedly force Pakistan to accept their demands, which include serious tackling of organisations such as the so-called Quetta Shura and the Haqqani network, and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
Based on the trends the Centre for Research and Security Studies observed since January this year, one could probably narrow down the current wave of violence in Balochistan to four key categories i.e. Baloch separatists, sectarian, external and internal forces (security agencies). All of them are so intricately intertwined that no easy deduction is possible to pinpoint the culprits behind most violent incidences.
Sectarian violence, the data suggests, claimed the second highest number of deaths after those caused by the nationalist militancy during the period starting from 2003 to December 2011. Shia were the primary victims of sectarian attacks and a majority of these attacks occurred in Quetta (237) and Jhal Magsi (36). Hindus were also affected by this violence, which forced them to migrate to other parts of the province or the country. Suicide attacks were the major cause of death (150) followed by non-suicide fatal attacks (114) and bombings (10). Officially banned organisations, mainly the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, were the ones that often claimed responsibility for such attacks and the minority Hazara community living in the region was the major victim of this violence.
Dr Malik Baloch, a balanced nationalist leader, also draws attention to the alarming circumstances that currently prevail in Balochistan. He, too, dismisses the Balochistan package, scorns the predominance of the security forces in governance and security matters and considers them to be a major source of discontent among the Baloch people in particular. Despite all these misgivings, Dr Baloch still pretends to be optimistic. Speaking at a seminar in Islamabad recently, he said that the dominant majority of the Baloch people are probably still pro-federation if their bruised egos are assuaged. The present provincial parliament, he said, had lost its relevance and only a fresh mandate could probably help restore the trust of the Baloch in the political system, which is leaking and creaking under misgovernance, violence and apathy of rulers.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2011.
Published: December 21, 2011
The Veteran Baloch nationalist, Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal’s warning that atrocities against the Baloch have pushed the situation to a “point of no return” is timely. After his meeting with Nawaz Sharif in Karachi on December 19, Mengal came down hard on the Pakistani security establishment, holding ‘the Punjabi army’ responsible for inhuman acts against the Baloch people.
“The Baloch youth don’t want a Pakistan in which they receive mutilated bodies of their compatriots … they are being systematically eliminated and forced to seek refuge in the mountains,” said the former chief minister of Balochistan and the founding chief of the Balochistan National Party.
Mengal also accused Interior Minister Rehman Malik of hurling threats at the Baloch in the same way former president General Musharraf did. While many in Pakistan might dismiss part of Mengal’s loaded criticism of the centre and the army, the multiple crises in Balochistan do merit serious and urgent consideration.
There is little doubt that Balochistan is most probably as much a microcosm of Pakistan’s security and political crisis as is Fata. Almost 450 murders since January so far; dozens of abductions and hundreds of attacks on key security and utility installations suggest that the province is currently going through one of the worst political, economic and security crises in its history.
The growing influence of religious extremists in the province is noticeable from the fact that the highest number of attacks on Nato supplies were carried out in Balochistan during the last four years, apparently by Taliban or pro-Taliban elements. The unusual number of target killings of Hazaras also bears testimony to the increased involvement in sectarian terrorism of outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Most Pakistani security agencies, officials and people at large, usually suspect external forces such as Afghanistan, the US and India of stoking and supporting nationalist violence to allegedly force Pakistan to accept their demands, which include serious tackling of organisations such as the so-called Quetta Shura and the Haqqani network, and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
Based on the trends the Centre for Research and Security Studies observed since January this year, one could probably narrow down the current wave of violence in Balochistan to four key categories i.e. Baloch separatists, sectarian, external and internal forces (security agencies). All of them are so intricately intertwined that no easy deduction is possible to pinpoint the culprits behind most violent incidences.
Sectarian violence, the data suggests, claimed the second highest number of deaths after those caused by the nationalist militancy during the period starting from 2003 to December 2011. Shia were the primary victims of sectarian attacks and a majority of these attacks occurred in Quetta (237) and Jhal Magsi (36). Hindus were also affected by this violence, which forced them to migrate to other parts of the province or the country. Suicide attacks were the major cause of death (150) followed by non-suicide fatal attacks (114) and bombings (10). Officially banned organisations, mainly the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, were the ones that often claimed responsibility for such attacks and the minority Hazara community living in the region was the major victim of this violence.
Dr Malik Baloch, a balanced nationalist leader, also draws attention to the alarming circumstances that currently prevail in Balochistan. He, too, dismisses the Balochistan package, scorns the predominance of the security forces in governance and security matters and considers them to be a major source of discontent among the Baloch people in particular. Despite all these misgivings, Dr Baloch still pretends to be optimistic. Speaking at a seminar in Islamabad recently, he said that the dominant majority of the Baloch people are probably still pro-federation if their bruised egos are assuaged. The present provincial parliament, he said, had lost its relevance and only a fresh mandate could probably help restore the trust of the Baloch in the political system, which is leaking and creaking under misgovernance, violence and apathy of rulers.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2011.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan demands urgent Govt action after Indonesia boat tragedy
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Commission said: “HRCP is saddened by the tragedy in Indonesian waters where the crew of a boat carrying around 170 Pakistanis as well as another 80 people of other nationalities
Lahore, December 20: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed deep sorrow at the death of at least 55 young men from Quetta’s Hazara community when a boat carrying around 250 people, 170 of them from Pakistan, capsized off Indonesia. HRCP has called upon Islamabad to help the families learn about the fate of the passengers as well as urgently address reasons that force Hazaras and other people from Balochistan to leave Pakistan even in the face of grave danger to their lives.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Commission said: “HRCP is saddened by the tragedy in Indonesian waters where the crew of a boat carrying around 170 Pakistanis as well as another 80 people of other nationalities, abandoned their passengers as the boat capsized in a fierce storm. At least 55 Hazaras from Quetta are believed to be dead and scores of Pakistanis remain missing. The passengers included over 70 youth from Quetta’s Hazara community. That the Hazara young men chose to leave Pakistan by taking such grave risks is a measure of the persecution the Hazara community has long faced in Balochistan. Other Pakistani passengers, also from Balochistan, were believed to be unemployed young men looking for a way to improve their life as well as businessmen who felt insecure amid growing incidents of kidnappings for ransom in the province, particularly in Quetta.
HRCP sympathises with the bereaved families and would investigate the matter further. As the identities of those who have drowned and others who are still missing remain unknown, the anxieties of the families in Pakistan are beyond description. Irrespective of how the young men ended up in Indonesian waters, the government must immediately facilitate the families’ access to information about the fate of their loved ones, ensure that the survivors get help and the recovered bodies are brought home.
HRCP also calls upon the government to take a long hard look at the state of affairs in Balochistan and reflect on the reasons that compel young men to take such grave risks in order to escape persecution, insecurity and poverty. The government must also identify and punish those who contributed to the death of the boat’s passengers by illegally ferrying them across borders. In view of its obligation to protect the lives of all citizens, the government must also take urgent steps to find a way to put an end to the persecution of the long suffering Hazara community.”
Zohra Yusuf
Chairperson
HRCP
Lahore, December 20: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed deep sorrow at the death of at least 55 young men from Quetta’s Hazara community when a boat carrying around 250 people, 170 of them from Pakistan, capsized off Indonesia. HRCP has called upon Islamabad to help the families learn about the fate of the passengers as well as urgently address reasons that force Hazaras and other people from Balochistan to leave Pakistan even in the face of grave danger to their lives.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Commission said: “HRCP is saddened by the tragedy in Indonesian waters where the crew of a boat carrying around 170 Pakistanis as well as another 80 people of other nationalities, abandoned their passengers as the boat capsized in a fierce storm. At least 55 Hazaras from Quetta are believed to be dead and scores of Pakistanis remain missing. The passengers included over 70 youth from Quetta’s Hazara community. That the Hazara young men chose to leave Pakistan by taking such grave risks is a measure of the persecution the Hazara community has long faced in Balochistan. Other Pakistani passengers, also from Balochistan, were believed to be unemployed young men looking for a way to improve their life as well as businessmen who felt insecure amid growing incidents of kidnappings for ransom in the province, particularly in Quetta.
HRCP sympathises with the bereaved families and would investigate the matter further. As the identities of those who have drowned and others who are still missing remain unknown, the anxieties of the families in Pakistan are beyond description. Irrespective of how the young men ended up in Indonesian waters, the government must immediately facilitate the families’ access to information about the fate of their loved ones, ensure that the survivors get help and the recovered bodies are brought home.
HRCP also calls upon the government to take a long hard look at the state of affairs in Balochistan and reflect on the reasons that compel young men to take such grave risks in order to escape persecution, insecurity and poverty. The government must also identify and punish those who contributed to the death of the boat’s passengers by illegally ferrying them across borders. In view of its obligation to protect the lives of all citizens, the government must also take urgent steps to find a way to put an end to the persecution of the long suffering Hazara community.”
Zohra Yusuf
Chairperson
HRCP
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