Protecting Hazaras in Balochistan

From the Newspaper |

EIGHT more people belonging to the Hazara Shia community were killed in Quetta on April 14 as the targeted killing of the ethnic community has unfortunately become a routine in the provincial capital.

These targeted killings indicate a great failure of law-enforcement agencies in Balochistan. Every time after completing their nefarious design the militants have been able to walk away freely and the perpetrators of such organised crime remain untouched.

Human rights groups have urged Pakistani security forces to take action against extremist sectarian outfits which have once again targeted Hazara Shia Muslims killing eight more people.

Human Rights Watch says that from 2008 to 2011 at least 275 Shias, mostly from the Hazara community, have been killed in Balochistan province, while these killings are still continued.

Human Rights Watch has reported that Pakistani and international human rights organisations, including HRW, have made numerous calls to Pakistan’s authorities to hold those responsible for the attacks to account. While authorities claim to have arrested dozens of suspects, no one has been charged in these attacks.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has reported that “together with the red tape, endemic to the bureaucracy, the delays in justice delivery and the ban on political activity created a vacuum in which the Islamic militant groups found it easy to run their terror activities”.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has urged that the government must immediately avail itself of all possible efforts to bring the perpetrators of targeted killings of innocent Shias to book. The government must probe the links between the banned militant organisations and the establishment.

The AHRC has also urged the government to ensure the security of the survivors, family members and relatives of those who were killed in the targeted killings and immediately pay compensation and rehabilitate them.

Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director Sam Zarifi said: “These are not random killings but demonstrate the deliberate targeting of the Shia by armed groups.”

He added that “recent attacks have predominantly targeted unarmed Shia Muslims in their homes, shops or while travelling, and even in their places of worship.”

Amnesty International has also reported that Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, a banned militant organisation, is operating openly in Punjab and striking their victims at will in Balochistan and other parts of the country.

Human Rights Watch has also mentioned that Laskar-i-Jhangvi operates with impunity even in areas where state authority is well-established, such as Punjab and Karachi.

Human Rights Watch has urged the Pakistan government to direct the military and the Frontier Corps to protect those facing attacks from extremist groups.

IRFAN HUSSAIN
London

DAWN

Urdu; Racial hatred, Sectarian Divide and Genocide of Hazaras

(Though most of the column is based on the writer's perceptions rather than history but it is worth to learn the perception of a non-Hazara who has lived for 20 years in the city and served in civil service...) 

Orya Maqbool Jan; Express News

Samaa TV; Hazara Women Protest Against Target Killings

Hazaras women protest against genocide in Quetta

Women Protest in Hazara Town against Target Killings

Pakistan's Worsening Hazara Crisis

The Governor of Pakistan's lawless Balochistan province says the Army may be summoned in the provincial capital city, Quetta, after a dramatic escalation in ethnic and sectarian violence. Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, the Governor, has strongly criticized the provincial government and suggested it to resign from the office due to its stark failure to curb thedeadly wave of violence targeting the Shia, Hazara minority community. If not immediately contained, the governor fears, this spate of violence may push the gas-rich region bordering Iran-Afghanistan into a state of civil war...Continue Reading...

Sectarian violence: Another Hazara shot dead, six escape separate attack

By Shehzad Baloch
Published: April 16, 2012

QUETTA: The security plan devised by the Government of Balochistan to target terrorists fanning sectarian violence in Quetta appears to have failed as yet another man belonging to the Hazara community was gunned down in broad daylight on Quarry Road, while six others escaped unhurt in a separate attack on Spinny Road.

Salman Ali, an elderly man, was sitting at a tyre shop when two assailants on a motorbike appeared and shot him in the head and chest. The attackers fled from the scene after the incident. The police reached the site and took the body to Provincial Sandeman Hospital.

Police termed the killing a case of sectarian targeted killing saying the victim was Hazara and a resident of Marriabad, a neighbourhood of the Shia community.

The incident triggered panic and most of the shops and markets on Quarry Road, Prince Road, Mezan Chowk and Liaquat Bazaar were closed.

The police and traffic police deputed in these areas were seen advising the people to go home by saying the situation had gone worse again.

The killing was reported in the heart of the city where a heavy contingent of police, Frontier Corps (FC) and other law enforcement agencies were deployed a few days ago following the targeted killings of six people on Monday.

A few hours earlier, members of the Hazara community in a yellow cab escaped unhurt when a group of armed men opened fire at them on Spinny Road.

“The people were on their way to Marriabad from the Hazara town when they were attacked by armed men. However, the people escaped unhurt in the attack,” Shia Conference stated in its statement to condemn the killings.

“It is ironic that the chief minister chaired a high-level meeting with the participation of high officials of law enforcement agencies and very next day, killing of innocent people resumed,” the Shia leaders said.

A number of Hazara people blocked the highway on Western Bypass to condemn the previous targeted killings. They raised slogans against the government and law enforcement agencies for their failure to break up the chain of target killers.

“The inaction on the part of law enforcement agencies is raising questions on their sincerity to protect the Hazara community,” Muhammad Ali, a young protestor said, adding that the Hazara community is peaceful in Quetta but they are being pushed against the wall.

Angry protestors also burnt tyres at Mezan Chowk and on Alamdar Road to register their protest.



Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani returned to Islamabad after chairing a high-level meeting pertaining to the law and order situation in Quetta.

Banned outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) claimed responsibility for the targeted killings of Hazara community.

The spokesperson of LJ who introduced himself as Ali Shair Haideri told local media in Quetta that his organisation carried out targeted attacks on Quarry Road and Spinny Road. Talking from specified location, he said his organisation will continue its attacks in the future.

Express Tribune