Monday, April 16, 2012
Hazara killings
From the Newspaper
YET another series of attacks against the Shia Hazara community in Balochistan over the weekend has raised fresh questions about the state’s inability or, as some quarters darkly suggest, unwillingness to take on the sectarian killers in the province headlined by the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Balochistan. To be sure, with only a small number of hardcore militants believed to be involved, stopping them will not be easy. But there are disturbing signs that the killings are yet to shake the political and security apparatus in Balochistan out of its stupor. Even more problematically, members of the provincial government are being accused by the Hazara community of either providing sanctuary to the killers or of turning a blind eye to their presence in certain areas.
What is clear is that Balochistan has a growing problem of radicalisation. A network of madressahs and mosques has mushroomed in Baloch areas like the districts of Mastung, Khuzdar, Noshki and Kalat. With little to no oversight of their operations, the network has injected into parts of the Baloch population a growing intolerance along sectarian, i.e. Sunni-Shia, lines. Add to that mixture the recruiting of LJ type militant outfits and a relatively small problem can snowball. In Balochistan, the surge in targeting the Hazara community this year and particularly in the last few weeks is not well understood. It could be that a ‘deadline’ for the Hazaras to leave Quetta, for example, set by the militants has expired. Or with the space for sectarian attacks in other parts of the country somewhat reduced, the Hazaras in lawless Balochistan are an easier target.
Whatever the reasons for the surge in killings and attacks, the matter seems to be beyond the control of regular law-enforcement agencies. Police in Quetta are themselves targets of sectarian killers and do not have the resources to fight back or defend themselves. And if the police’s political bosses in the provincial government are disinclined to take on the sectarian militants, there’s little the police can do anyway. Which leaves the intelligence apparatus. The LJ in Balochistan is precisely the kind of entity that intelligence agencies are meant to track and help dismantle. The damaging war against Baloch separatists being led by the intelligence agencies is real enough but it’s not reason enough to preclude other actions by those agencies. But what if the agencies see strategic reasons to leave some groups untouched? The Hazaras of Balochistan are truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
SMS from Quetta
Mansoor Ali Khan on 16, Apr 2012
“Important, I can provide you information about latest attack on Brewery Road, Quetta but I demand full secrecy.” This is the message I received on my cell phone today when I reached office. I called up the number. It was a student from a college in Quetta. His voice shaking with fear. My first question was where did he get my number from? He replied, I got it from your face book account. He said he had seen the people carrying weapons from his hostel which is situated on Brewery Road. The student replied, he was not willing to reveal his identity or talk on-air because he feared for his life. I told him I cant help him until I don’t confirm his identity but he was insistent on hiding his identity. I didn’t force him anymore cause I knew his life was much precious than anything in this world. I simply let him go but told him to contact me again if he wants to share anything else.
This is only one example of thousands of citizens of Quetta who are living in fear for the last 15 days now. Every day we recieve news of unknown gunmen coming on motorbikes and shedding bullets on innocent people who are either sitting at their shops or are waiting for the bus at the bus-stop. Immigration consultants have thriving business in this city where every week hundreds of families are applying for immigrations to Canada, Australia or America. I personally know at least five such families who have sold every thing they ever owned, who have left their ancestors’ graves in this city due to the fear of their lives. I had a chance to talk to one such family in Canada. I asked them do they miss Quetta and they replied the only thing they miss about this city is that they would never be able to see the graves of their ancestors anymore. My next question was if they would ever return to the city, their answer was quick “No” and a long silence.
What could one say about a province whose governor has been compelled to say that if things don’t work out soon enough, civil war might erupt in this region. Our channel talked to the Secretary Interior of Baluchistan, Naseeb Ullah Bazai, and asked him why the law-enforcing agencies seemed to be failing. He replied they are trying their best to control the situation but his reply sounded more like a warrior who is fighting a war without arms. He gave us figures of arrests, figures of under-trial detainees but nowhere did he mention a concrete plan to handle this situation. The only thing he had to announce was that they are holding another ‘meeting’ to assess the situation.
In any other country if such a situation had come-up the Prime Minister would have been forced to move to the city to handle the situation but our Prime Minister seems too busy handling the contempt of court case against him, the new drug scandal against his son and yes, last but not the least increasing the number of ministers in the cabinet.
The Hazara community’s prominent representative in the National Assembly, Syed Nasir Ali, belongs to the ruling People’s party and is on a token strike for quite some time now but just like the people of Quetta, his token strike is apparently doing no good. I called the Secretary General of the Hazara Democratic Party, Ahmed Kuzak and told him about the sms I had received but I was shocked to see that he wasn’t surprised. He said we already know that there are elements in the city that are at play here, but the government machinery seems to have failed miserably. He told me that since March 26, 27 people, from the Hazara community have been shot dead in target killings. The attackers have been so confident about their approach that they are targeting people on two different spots in an interval of 5 minutes and no one from the police or the law-enforcing agencies seemed to get a clue about what is happening. Kuzak further stated that after the Mastung incident when 22 pilgrims who were on their way to Iran were brutally killed; there was a grave silence in the target killing incidents but since March 26 there has been a new wave seizing the city. The secretary general further mentioned that Quetta has become such sensitive area for policing that 27 posts of SPs and DSPs are lying vacant in the province since last year but no police officer is willing to take up the charge.
The political leadership, the police and even the clerics seemed to have failed in ensuring peace in this region. If things don’t work out soon enough, no laptops, Tsunamis, or Pakistan Khappay slogans will be able to the stop this wave of anger and sorrow and all that will be left for us do is to appoint another Hamood-ur-Rehman commission.
EDITORIAL: Hazara community’s sorrows
With eight more Hazara community members killed in Quetta on Saturday, the litany of the sorrows of the community seems unrelenting. In one incident, assailants ambushed a taxi on Brewery Road, killing the six occupants, in an eerie repeat of an earlier such ambush on a vehicle carrying Hazara community members. Minutes after the first incident, the assassins killed another two members of the community in a rickshaw in the same area. Virtual riots broke out in the city in reaction, with arson and violence on display against the police and authorities. The sky was punctuated by aerial firing, which wounded a student. The authorities responded by deploying the police as usual and calling in 10 more Frontier Corps (FC) platoons to beef up the security presence. That may have helped defuse the immediate violent reaction, but whether this post-facto response is the answer to what is by now clearly a pattern of attacks on the Hazara community is shrouded in doubt. Quetta in particular has become the theatre of this sectarian genocide. It must be stopped before the peaceful Hazara community loses patience and decides to protect and defend itself against the sectarian terrorists by force of arms, given that the Balochistan government and the FC have signally failed to do their duty. The ‘absent’ Chief Minister Aslam Raisani made the ritual announcement of doing all within the government’s power to bring the sectarian mayhem to an end. Balochistan Home Secretary Nasibullah Bazai offered a mealy-mouthed response, saying the government could not provide complete security to citizens. Let alone “complete” security, what security has the provincial government provided to any citizen? He goes on to assert that a comprehensive security plan has been devised that would be implemented after approval by the higher authorities. Nobody takes these ‘declarations’ seriously any more. Amidst the announcement of days of mourning, the Shia community in Quetta has called for the inept Balochistan government’s resignation. Governor Balochistan Zulfikar Magsi, a frequent critic of the provincial government’s (lack of) performance, warned the other day that if the provincial authorities could not handle the situation, the army may have to be called out. What would remain of the tattered credibility of the provincial government if this were to come to pass?
The Shia community is under attack in the country from Khurram Agency to Gilgit-Baltistan to Balochistan. The sectarian terrorists aligned with the Taliban and al Qaeda are seeking to sow the seeds of sectarian strife to such an extent throughout the country, from north to south, that a sectarian civil war breaks out to destabilise the country as a whole. While the Shia tribes in Khurram Agency are under the pressure of the Taliban and their mentors the intelligence agencies to allow safe passage to the Taliban for attacks in Afghanistan on pain of death, the Shias of Gilgit-Baltistan are being massacred without let or hindrance. Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s proposal of a judicial commission on the sectarian violence in Gilgit-Baltistan is a non sequitur. It does not take a judicial commission to know the facts on the ground when Shias are picked off en masse every other day. Protests of solidarity with the Hazara community in Balochistan and Shias throughout the country were held on Saturday in Islamabad and even Washington. The purpose of the sectarian terrorists should leave no one in any doubt. Pakistan is to be reduced to rubble through a sectarian civil war that could destroy democracy and the country itself. They must not be allowed to succeed in their nefarious designs by pussyfooting authorities or inept law enforcement. It is in the interests of the system and all governments, federal and provincial, to rise to the challenge and conduct an effective campaign of suppression against these mad fanatics. *
They open a new front in Quetta
THE incidents in Quetta, killing eight members of Shia Hazara community Saturday shocked people across the country and resulted in a strong reaction from the affected sect forcing the administration to call in Frontier Corps troops to maintain law and order. This type of sectarian infighting if allowed to go on unchecked, would be a severe blow to the very unity and survival of Pakistan.
Balochistan in general and Quetta in particular has become a den of criminal gangs as every day there are incidents of target killings. This was the fourth attack against the members of Hazara community in a week while twenty six people have been killed in the past fortnight. The two separateincidents Saturday were the handiwork of organised gangs and there should be no doubt in any body’s mind that it is a well orchestrated conspiracy by foreign powers to create ethnic and sectarian hatred in a strategically important part of the country. The attacks by unidentified armed men are being carried out by the locals but it is for certain that they are being trained and financed by the enemies of the country who according to analysts want to send a clear message to the Pakistani leadership to either tow their line or face serious consequences. We say so because Sunnis and Shias have been living together for centuries and barring some minor incidents, there had been complete unity in their ranks. The sudden spur in target killings indicates that there is no writ of the provincial government and law enforcement agencies have no capacity to deal with the alarming situation. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry during hearing of the law and order situation case in Quetta lamented that none of the authorities are concerned with the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan. What is more astonishing is that the huge Provincial Cabinet, a great burden on the exchequer, seems to be least perturbed over the killings. Some of the Ministers are accused of involvement in kidnappings and killings and the Chief Minister, who appears to be only interested in enjoying the perks and privileges, has no control over the Cabinet and the administration. A day earlier Governor Zulfikar Magsi warned that if peace was not restored in Quetta there was danger of civil war and the army might take over which would further mess up the situation. We are of the considered opinion that now that inimical foreign powers have opened a new front in Quetta to create sectarian disharmony and pitch one sect against the other, and the provincial government has totally failed, there is no other way out but to impose Governor rule to deal with the anti state elements with an iron hand to restore peace and order.
Balochistan in general and Quetta in particular has become a den of criminal gangs as every day there are incidents of target killings. This was the fourth attack against the members of Hazara community in a week while twenty six people have been killed in the past fortnight. The two separateincidents Saturday were the handiwork of organised gangs and there should be no doubt in any body’s mind that it is a well orchestrated conspiracy by foreign powers to create ethnic and sectarian hatred in a strategically important part of the country. The attacks by unidentified armed men are being carried out by the locals but it is for certain that they are being trained and financed by the enemies of the country who according to analysts want to send a clear message to the Pakistani leadership to either tow their line or face serious consequences. We say so because Sunnis and Shias have been living together for centuries and barring some minor incidents, there had been complete unity in their ranks. The sudden spur in target killings indicates that there is no writ of the provincial government and law enforcement agencies have no capacity to deal with the alarming situation. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry during hearing of the law and order situation case in Quetta lamented that none of the authorities are concerned with the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan. What is more astonishing is that the huge Provincial Cabinet, a great burden on the exchequer, seems to be least perturbed over the killings. Some of the Ministers are accused of involvement in kidnappings and killings and the Chief Minister, who appears to be only interested in enjoying the perks and privileges, has no control over the Cabinet and the administration. A day earlier Governor Zulfikar Magsi warned that if peace was not restored in Quetta there was danger of civil war and the army might take over which would further mess up the situation. We are of the considered opinion that now that inimical foreign powers have opened a new front in Quetta to create sectarian disharmony and pitch one sect against the other, and the provincial government has totally failed, there is no other way out but to impose Governor rule to deal with the anti state elements with an iron hand to restore peace and order.
Mourning continues in Quetta over Hazara killings
DAWN.COM
Supporters of Hazara community gather near burning tyres as they are protesting against brewery road incident in Quetta on Sunday, April 15, 2012. (Arsalan Naseer/PPI Images).
QUETTA: Mourning against the targeted killings in Quetta continued for the third day on Monday, and members of the ethnic Hazara community continued their protests against the worsening law and order situation, DawnNews reported.
Earlier on Sunday, a high-level meeting on the province’s security situation chaired by Chief Minister Aslam Raisani decided to conduct targeted operations.
During the meeting, the authorities approved a new security plan for Quetta.
Under this plan, a ban on pillion-riding has been extended for two months whereas a ban on display of weapons is being maintained.
The FC and police personnel have been directed to take indiscriminate action against vehicles with tinted windows and personalised number plates.
Furthermore, the Balochistan government has announced to hand out Rs 400,000 to the heirs of each target killing victim and Rs 100,000 for each person injured as compensation. After the decision to conduct targeted operations and to take indiscriminate action against criminal elements, the police conducted raids in various localities of Quetta and arrested many suspects.
A few hours after the decision was taken, two persons were killed near Bakra Piri by unknown pillion-riding gunmen. One of the slain was identified as Abdul Ghani whereas the second person had not yet been identified.
Earlier, the Hazara Democratic Party had rejected the chief minister’s invitation for talks and the party’s provincial chairman Abdul Khaliq Hazara said that the provincial government had failed to control the law and order situation.
Also, a complete shut down had been observed in the provincial capital on Sunday.
Supporters of Hazara community gather near burning tyres as they are protesting against brewery road incident in Quetta on Sunday, April 15, 2012. (Arsalan Naseer/PPI Images).
QUETTA: Mourning against the targeted killings in Quetta continued for the third day on Monday, and members of the ethnic Hazara community continued their protests against the worsening law and order situation, DawnNews reported.
Earlier on Sunday, a high-level meeting on the province’s security situation chaired by Chief Minister Aslam Raisani decided to conduct targeted operations.
During the meeting, the authorities approved a new security plan for Quetta.
Under this plan, a ban on pillion-riding has been extended for two months whereas a ban on display of weapons is being maintained.
The FC and police personnel have been directed to take indiscriminate action against vehicles with tinted windows and personalised number plates.
Furthermore, the Balochistan government has announced to hand out Rs 400,000 to the heirs of each target killing victim and Rs 100,000 for each person injured as compensation. After the decision to conduct targeted operations and to take indiscriminate action against criminal elements, the police conducted raids in various localities of Quetta and arrested many suspects.
A few hours after the decision was taken, two persons were killed near Bakra Piri by unknown pillion-riding gunmen. One of the slain was identified as Abdul Ghani whereas the second person had not yet been identified.
Earlier, the Hazara Democratic Party had rejected the chief minister’s invitation for talks and the party’s provincial chairman Abdul Khaliq Hazara said that the provincial government had failed to control the law and order situation.
Also, a complete shut down had been observed in the provincial capital on Sunday.
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