Sunday, April 15, 2012
Nitin Pai: Put Pakistan on a genocide watchlist
Nitin Pai / Apr 16, 2012, 00:36 IST
Earlier this month, provoked by a grenade attack, hundreds of militants affiliated to radical Sunni groups stopped buses in Gilgit-Baltistan (a part of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir under Pakistani control), rounded up Shia passengers and executed them. Similar incidents in the region over the past few months have claimed scores of lives. We do not know how many exactly, because Pakistan has imposed a media blackout. It is already clear though, that the killings of Shias were systematic and carried out with the connivance of the Pakistani state authorities.
That’s not all. All of Pakistan’s religious and ethnic minorities are under attack.
While the lot of religious minorities in Pakistan was never pretty, it has gotten far worse in the last few years. The brazen, unpunished and celebrated assassinations of personalities like Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti divert attention from the violence against minorities on a day-to-day basis. There are reports of several dozen Pakistani Hindu families seeking asylum in India. Compiling figures from Sindhi language newspapers, Marvi Sirmed, a Pakistani writer and activist, has estimated that 3,000 Hindu girls have been abducted and converted to Islam in the province. Christian families have been forced to flee after charges of blasphemy were levelled against their members.
It’s a similar situation for ethnic minorities. In Balochistan, the Pakistan army’s counter-insurgency strategy includes terrorising the population through enforced disappearances, torture and killing of citizens followed by the dumping of their bodies as a warning to the rest. The Shia Hazaras are not only a religious minority, but also an ethnic one. Over the last two years there has been an escalation in violence against them in Balochistan, in FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The perpetrators and immediate motives in each of these cases are different. They range from Sunni jihadi groups targeting people they consider apostates, to rival communities seeking domination, to the Pakistani armed forces fighting insurgents. They are called sectarian violence, gang warfare, ethnic cleansing, kill-and-dump or counter-insurgency. It is perhaps because there are individual names for these crimes that we are missing the possibility that they might amount to a bigger one — genocide.
This is not a word to be used loosely. Genocide specifically means “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. It includes killing people on account of belonging to a group; causing them serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions to destroy the group in whole or in part; preventing births and transferring children by force. The situation in Pakistan today satisfies many of these criteria, and to varying degrees.
How many people have died? The blackout, censorship and violent intimidation of journalists makes it hard to estimate even the order of magnitude. Baloch nationalist groups, for instance, have criticised the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for reporting 35 disappearances and 173 dumped bodies in 2011. They claim over over 14,000 disappearances since 2005 and 400 dumped bodies since July 2010. It would be wrong, though, to wait for the body counts to rise to some arbitrary level for the world to take action.
A genocide takes place in stages. These can be rapid or drawn out in time. Gregory Stanton, an American human rights scholar and president of Genocide Watch, has identified eight stages, starting from classification of people into “us and them” and ending in extermination followed by denial. Pakistan is already through many of the early stages. Instead of waiting until it is too late for too many, the proper thing to do now is to squarely place Pakistan in a genocide watchlist and bring the intense focus of international public opinion to bear. It is understandable that the governments of the United States and India are unwilling to take up the violence against minorities for reasons of realpolitik. It is understandable that China and Saudi Arabia don’t care. It is therefore understandable that the UN Security Council doesn’t care. What is not understandable is that international media and human rights groups appear oblivious to this ongoing tragedy.
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P) and the International Coalition for The Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP) — two prominent international NGOs that champion the Responsibility to Protect populations against mass atrocities as an international norm — do not even list Pakistan in the crises they are tracking. Organisations like Human Rights Watch are bravely reporting events on the ground, but their wide mandate precludes them from focusing on this one issue.
The UN Human Rights Council is more interested in outlawing giving offence to religion than killing in its name. The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), always ready to talk about the world’s oppressed Muslims, can be trusted to maintain a resolute silence in this case.
Closer home, the Indian media stands indicted too. So completely are our television channels beholden to the narrative of the peace process that they are, literally, overlooking mass murder.
The white stripe on Pakistan’s flag is being eaten up. The geopolitical implications come later. At this time it is already a human tragedy that is unconscionable for Indians to ignore. In Bob Dylan’s sublime words, “Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows/That too many people have died?”
The author is founder and fellow for geopolitics at the Takshashila Institution, an independent think tank on strategic affairs
Earlier this month, provoked by a grenade attack, hundreds of militants affiliated to radical Sunni groups stopped buses in Gilgit-Baltistan (a part of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir under Pakistani control), rounded up Shia passengers and executed them. Similar incidents in the region over the past few months have claimed scores of lives. We do not know how many exactly, because Pakistan has imposed a media blackout. It is already clear though, that the killings of Shias were systematic and carried out with the connivance of the Pakistani state authorities.
That’s not all. All of Pakistan’s religious and ethnic minorities are under attack.
While the lot of religious minorities in Pakistan was never pretty, it has gotten far worse in the last few years. The brazen, unpunished and celebrated assassinations of personalities like Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti divert attention from the violence against minorities on a day-to-day basis. There are reports of several dozen Pakistani Hindu families seeking asylum in India. Compiling figures from Sindhi language newspapers, Marvi Sirmed, a Pakistani writer and activist, has estimated that 3,000 Hindu girls have been abducted and converted to Islam in the province. Christian families have been forced to flee after charges of blasphemy were levelled against their members.
It’s a similar situation for ethnic minorities. In Balochistan, the Pakistan army’s counter-insurgency strategy includes terrorising the population through enforced disappearances, torture and killing of citizens followed by the dumping of their bodies as a warning to the rest. The Shia Hazaras are not only a religious minority, but also an ethnic one. Over the last two years there has been an escalation in violence against them in Balochistan, in FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The perpetrators and immediate motives in each of these cases are different. They range from Sunni jihadi groups targeting people they consider apostates, to rival communities seeking domination, to the Pakistani armed forces fighting insurgents. They are called sectarian violence, gang warfare, ethnic cleansing, kill-and-dump or counter-insurgency. It is perhaps because there are individual names for these crimes that we are missing the possibility that they might amount to a bigger one — genocide.
This is not a word to be used loosely. Genocide specifically means “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. It includes killing people on account of belonging to a group; causing them serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions to destroy the group in whole or in part; preventing births and transferring children by force. The situation in Pakistan today satisfies many of these criteria, and to varying degrees.
How many people have died? The blackout, censorship and violent intimidation of journalists makes it hard to estimate even the order of magnitude. Baloch nationalist groups, for instance, have criticised the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for reporting 35 disappearances and 173 dumped bodies in 2011. They claim over over 14,000 disappearances since 2005 and 400 dumped bodies since July 2010. It would be wrong, though, to wait for the body counts to rise to some arbitrary level for the world to take action.
A genocide takes place in stages. These can be rapid or drawn out in time. Gregory Stanton, an American human rights scholar and president of Genocide Watch, has identified eight stages, starting from classification of people into “us and them” and ending in extermination followed by denial. Pakistan is already through many of the early stages. Instead of waiting until it is too late for too many, the proper thing to do now is to squarely place Pakistan in a genocide watchlist and bring the intense focus of international public opinion to bear. It is understandable that the governments of the United States and India are unwilling to take up the violence against minorities for reasons of realpolitik. It is understandable that China and Saudi Arabia don’t care. It is therefore understandable that the UN Security Council doesn’t care. What is not understandable is that international media and human rights groups appear oblivious to this ongoing tragedy.
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P) and the International Coalition for The Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP) — two prominent international NGOs that champion the Responsibility to Protect populations against mass atrocities as an international norm — do not even list Pakistan in the crises they are tracking. Organisations like Human Rights Watch are bravely reporting events on the ground, but their wide mandate precludes them from focusing on this one issue.
The UN Human Rights Council is more interested in outlawing giving offence to religion than killing in its name. The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), always ready to talk about the world’s oppressed Muslims, can be trusted to maintain a resolute silence in this case.
Closer home, the Indian media stands indicted too. So completely are our television channels beholden to the narrative of the peace process that they are, literally, overlooking mass murder.
The white stripe on Pakistan’s flag is being eaten up. The geopolitical implications come later. At this time it is already a human tragedy that is unconscionable for Indians to ignore. In Bob Dylan’s sublime words, “Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows/That too many people have died?”
The author is founder and fellow for geopolitics at the Takshashila Institution, an independent think tank on strategic affairs
Targeted operation against culprits to be launched in Quetta
DAWN.COM |
Chief Minister of Balochistan Aslami Raisani – APP (File Photo)
QUETTA: The Chief Minister of Balochistan Aslam Raisani said on Sunday that the government will launch a targeted operation in Quetta for the restoration of peace in the city, DawnNews reported.
After a fresh wave of ethnic and sectarian killings in Quetta, Raisani made the immediate decision in a high level meeting with the Provincial Home Minister Zafarullah Zahri, Ali Madad Jatak, religious leaders and representatives of law enforcement agencies.
Raisani was also briefed about the Quetta’s situation. Raisani said that the police department will be restructured and non-discriminate measures will be taken against culprits and target killers in the city
Hazara killings: Complete strike observed in Quetta
By Shehzad Baloch
Published: April 15, 2012
Police and security forces also booked over 200 people for violating the ban on pillion riding in the city. PHOTO: PPI/ FILE
QUETTA: A complete shutter down and wheel-jam strike was observed in the provincial capital, paralysing the business activities on Sunday.
Stringent security measures were taken to maintain law and order, with the deployment of paramilitary troops Frontier Corps (FC), police and other law enforcing agencies in and around Quetta.
The strike was called by the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) and was backed by the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) to protest against the recent wave of sectarian targeted killings that left 18 killed in the last four days.
All the shops, markets, eateries and even chemists shops in Liaquat Bazar, Mezan Chowk, Abdul Sattar Road, Prince Road, Jinnah Road, Zarghoon Road, Brewery Road, Hazara Town and Marriabad remained closed.
The strike was observed partially in Saryab and the nearby areas as markets and shops were functional as usual.
It is pertinent to mention that half of the business community in Quetta observe weekly holiday on Friday while remaining shut their businesses on Sunday.
Police and security forces also booked over 200 people for violating the ban on pillion riding in the city.
Security personnel increased their patrolling in Quetta to restore order. However, panic and fear continued to plague the city as people preferred to stay indoors and most of the streets and roads presented a deserted look, with very thin traffic plying on the roads.
Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani presided over a high level meeting to review the law and order situation in the aftermath of targeted killings of Hazara community members.
Provincial Ministers, Inspector General Police (IG) Balochistan, Home Secretary and other senior officials attended the meeting, which was convened to devise a strategy to deal with the situation. The meeting was underway when this report was filed.
The HDP Chief Abdul Khaliq Hazara in his statement said his community was being compelled to pick up arms to protect its members from the targeted attacks.
The Express Tribune
Saturday, April 14, 2012
15-day toll rises to 26; strike call for today: Eight Hazaras shot dead in Quetta
From the Newspaper | Saleem Shahid |
QUETTA, April 14: At least eight members of the Shia Hazara community and a policeman were killed in three attacks here on Saturday.
After the attacks and subsequent violence, the administration called out Frontier Corps in the city. The paramilitaries started taking up positions at important places in the evening.
“Seven people were killed in firing on two vehicles on Brewery Road and Subzal Road,” DIG (Operation) Qazi Wahid told Dawn.
Saturday’s killings took the number of Hazara Shias killed in Quetta and its vicinity during the past fortnight to 26.
The Hazara Democratic Party has called upon the community to observe a strike on Sunday to “register outrage over the unabated killings”.
Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, who was in Islamabad, expressed sorrow over the deaths and ordered officials concerned to “take all possible steps for arresting the culprits”.
The Balochistan governor had earlier this week criticised the provincial government, warning that the army could be called out if the administration failed to protect life and property.
Soon after Saturday’s attacks, angry protesters blocked the road that leads from Quetta to Hazara town.
They torched a private van and a motorcycle in Bolan Medical College Hospital.
A student was injured when unknown people fired in the air. Shots were fired at police, too.
The protesters also burnt tyres at different points in Quetta and some men riding motorcycles fired blank shots, triggering panic.
Shops and business centres were closed and people started rushing home as fear overtook the city after masked men riding motorcycles fired indiscriminately in shopping areas.
The terrorists first struck at Killi Ibrahimzai, where four motorcyclists fired at a yellow cab that was taking six people to Quetta from Hazara town.
“They opened fire on the car from two directions, killing all the six passengers. They suffered bullet wounds to their heads,” police said.
In the other shooting, two men riding a motorcycle attacked another vehicle on Subzal Road.
One man was killed on the spot and another was critically injured. He died in the Combined Military Hospital.
A policeman, Mohammad Panha, was shot dead in Shalkot, near Quetta, when he was going to his place of duty.
According to some TV reports, some suspects were taken into custody.
OUTRAGE:
QUETTA, April 14: At least eight members of the Shia Hazara community and a policeman were killed in three attacks here on Saturday.
After the attacks and subsequent violence, the administration called out Frontier Corps in the city. The paramilitaries started taking up positions at important places in the evening.
“Seven people were killed in firing on two vehicles on Brewery Road and Subzal Road,” DIG (Operation) Qazi Wahid told Dawn.
Saturday’s killings took the number of Hazara Shias killed in Quetta and its vicinity during the past fortnight to 26.
The Hazara Democratic Party has called upon the community to observe a strike on Sunday to “register outrage over the unabated killings”.
Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, who was in Islamabad, expressed sorrow over the deaths and ordered officials concerned to “take all possible steps for arresting the culprits”.
The Balochistan governor had earlier this week criticised the provincial government, warning that the army could be called out if the administration failed to protect life and property.
Soon after Saturday’s attacks, angry protesters blocked the road that leads from Quetta to Hazara town.
They torched a private van and a motorcycle in Bolan Medical College Hospital.
A student was injured when unknown people fired in the air. Shots were fired at police, too.
The protesters also burnt tyres at different points in Quetta and some men riding motorcycles fired blank shots, triggering panic.
Shops and business centres were closed and people started rushing home as fear overtook the city after masked men riding motorcycles fired indiscriminately in shopping areas.
The terrorists first struck at Killi Ibrahimzai, where four motorcyclists fired at a yellow cab that was taking six people to Quetta from Hazara town.
“They opened fire on the car from two directions, killing all the six passengers. They suffered bullet wounds to their heads,” police said.
In the other shooting, two men riding a motorcycle attacked another vehicle on Subzal Road.
One man was killed on the spot and another was critically injured. He died in the Combined Military Hospital.
A policeman, Mohammad Panha, was shot dead in Shalkot, near Quetta, when he was going to his place of duty.
According to some TV reports, some suspects were taken into custody.
OUTRAGE:
Members of the Hazara community converged on Brewery Road in their hundreds and at the Bolan Medical College Hospital, where bodies were placed for identification. The enraged crowd pelted vehicles with stones and blocked roads.
The demonstrators set on fire a van and a motorcycle parked in the hospital and also attacked some shops.
Groups of protesters burnt tyres at Meezan Chowk and in some other places across the Balochistan capital.
However, security personnel dispersed them after firing shots in the air.
Home Secretary Naseebullah Bazai immediately called out the Frontier Corps to control the situation.
“Ten FC battalions have been deployed in and around Quetta to restore peace and order,” official sources said.
Heavy contingents of FC, police and Balochistan Constabulary patrolled the road and streets of the provincial capital.
The demonstrators set on fire a van and a motorcycle parked in the hospital and also attacked some shops.
Groups of protesters burnt tyres at Meezan Chowk and in some other places across the Balochistan capital.
However, security personnel dispersed them after firing shots in the air.
Home Secretary Naseebullah Bazai immediately called out the Frontier Corps to control the situation.
“Ten FC battalions have been deployed in and around Quetta to restore peace and order,” official sources said.
Heavy contingents of FC, police and Balochistan Constabulary patrolled the road and streets of the provincial capital.
Civil society protests Quetta killings
* Asks CJP to take suo motu notice of genocide at hands of terrorists
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Scores of activists belonging to Hazara Youth Islamabad and Baloch Friends on Saturday staged a protest demonstration in front of the National Press Club demanding the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of ongoing genocide of the Hazara community.
Holding placards and banners inscribed with denunciation of Saturday’s killing in which at least seven people were shot dead in Quetta, the protesters demanded the government protect the community from target killers.
They also raised slogans against the government and law enforcement agencies’ inaction towards incidents of targeted killings in Quetta.
Addressing the participants, social activists Marvi Sirmed, Dr Farzana Bari and Workers Party leader Dr Asim Sajjad called upon Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice of the deteriorating law and order situation in Quetta, particularly killings of Hazara people on sectarian basis. “People have pinned high hopes on the chief justice that he will provide us with justice,” they said.
“Since 1999, over 700 people of the community have been killed in different incidents of target killings and suicide attacks while there has been no progress against the culprits which strengthens the notion the government and law enforcement agencies are patronising the terrorists,” they said.
Social workers lamented that parliamentarians did not even have time to condemn these killings while the provincial government was also reluctant to take action against criminals.
They further said that history witnessed that Hazara community, comprising half a million peace-loving people, has no difference with other sects. However, for being peaceful, the community members are being victimised and killed by terrorists. “We believe no religion allows such inhumane act,” they maintained.
The speakers announced that they will register their protest with the international community since the provincial and the federal governments have failed to curb the unending targeted killings of the Hazara people and had given a ‘free hand’ to criminals.
However, the activists also appealed to all peace-loving citizens of the Pakistan, civil society, media, international NGOs, and law enforcement agencies to condemn systematic genocide of the community and start a crackdown against banned organisations to the save the province from an expected civil war.
They said that the province was on the brink of civil war; all the parties and responsible people have to show sincerity, otherwise the ongoing unrest will result in an unexpected crisis or a civil war.
Daily Times
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