Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Hazara students call for broad coalition in Balochistan
From the Newspaper | Mahvish Ahmad |
ISLAMABAD, April 16: The Hazara Student Federation (HSF) in the federal capital has spent the last month participating in seminars and organising protests, calling for a broad coalition between Baloch, Hazara and Pakhtun people in Balochistan.
“It makes no sense to stand divided when we all face the same threats and dangers. We have all been victim of violent kidnappings and killings, and the only way forward is to stand in solidarity,” says Sajjad Hussain Changezi, one of the members and spokespersons of the HSF.
The student federation calls for a political, non-violent resistance against elements that are threatening, kidnapping and killing members of all ethnic communities in Balochistan.
Waleed Umar, a Baloch youth and student, agrees with Changezi.
“We only have each other now. It is crucial that we support each other, said Umar, who participated and spoke at a protest organised by the HSF against a spate of killings of Hazaras in Balochistan on Saturday.
“Umar participated and spoke at the protest, putting his own life at risk. He is brave for having stood up in front of the Islamabad press club, side by side with us,” says Changezi.
“The truth is that the state bears a huge burden of the responsibility for the law and order situation in Balochistan. The Baloch accuse the military and intelligence agencies for extrajudicial kidnappings and killings in Balochistan.
And when it comes to the Hazaras, the continued presence of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi in Quetta indicates that the state has either failed to protect us or is directly complicit in keeping them there.
The Pakhtuns are also in constant danger living in such a situation,” says Changezi.
More than 700 Hazaras have been killed in Balochistan since September 11, 2001.
“We have common enemies, and a common path. The only way we can resist the enormous threats that we stand against, is to stand together,” says Umar.
Quetta violence: Hazara protesters demand governor’s rule in Balochistan
By Our Correspondent
Published: April 18, 2012
Demonstrators condemned govt’s failure to protect their community. PHOTO: REUTERS/ FILE
QUETTA:
Scores of women took to the streets in Quetta on Tuesday to condemn the target killings of members of the Hazara community. The protesters demanded that governor‘s rule be imposed in Quetta, as the government had failed to curb violence against their community.
The procession, organised by Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), culminated at the Hazara graveyard in Quetta where they raised slogans against the government and law enforcement agencies for their failure to curb target killings.
MWM General Secretary Sayed Yusuf Agha said the provincial government was not sincere in maintaining law and order in Balochistan, where killers had a free hand.
“The Hazara community demands the imposition of governor rule in the province,” he said.
The women were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans like “Stop the genocide of the Hazara community. End target killing.”
The protesters offered Fateha at the graveyard for those killed in the recent wave of attacks against the community in the province.
The Hazara community has been protesting for the past one week demanding that the government take action against the target killers. As many as 19 people belonging to the community have been killed in targeted attacks in Quetta over the past one week.
Stringent security measures have been adopted in and around Quetta including large deployment of Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, police, Balochistan Levies personnel and other law enforcement agencies following the recent spate of target killings.
The government also extended a ban on pillion riding and the display of arms in the city. Hundreds of motorcyclists were detained over violating the ban.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 18th, 2012.
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
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...)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)