Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Hazaras’ appeal for security
From the Newspaper
THE rampant menace of extremism is slowly and steadily taking over the minds and souls of every individual in society.
Some time back I happen to visit the Capital City Police office in Quetta and noticed that a board on which photographs of police martyrs were placed was in a bad condition.
Pictures, specially of those belonging to the Hazara community, were torn apart.
I asked one of the officials about the cause of the destruction. He told me that last night the photographs were torn apart by some unknown person and it is still under investigation about who could have done such a shameful act.
However, the causes are still unknown. Being a member of the Hazara community, as well as a member of the police department, I was really shocked to see this and thought that the situation has came to such a pass that they could not even bear the photographs of the martyrs being placed in a government building, let alone spare our lives.
On the other hand, the police department, which has to provide security against such extremists, has to face terrorists having such mindset.
Another tragedy recently occurred at the Central Police Office, Quetta. The name plates outside the offices of the Hazara police officers were broken by some unknown person or persons while dirt was splattered on the plates.
In such a situation, I am afraid that the noose is being tightened around our neck and we are left with no option but to live in fear not only because of extremism, but also because of people around us with whom we have everyday business.
Or should I say we have to fear our shadows as well?
This is the situation we are living in. Through these columns, I want to alert the authorities having power to eradicate this menace. I would like them to act quickly.
Otherwise, the situation will get from bad to worse.
TAQI RAMZAN
Quetta
THE rampant menace of extremism is slowly and steadily taking over the minds and souls of every individual in society.
Some time back I happen to visit the Capital City Police office in Quetta and noticed that a board on which photographs of police martyrs were placed was in a bad condition.
Pictures, specially of those belonging to the Hazara community, were torn apart.
I asked one of the officials about the cause of the destruction. He told me that last night the photographs were torn apart by some unknown person and it is still under investigation about who could have done such a shameful act.
However, the causes are still unknown. Being a member of the Hazara community, as well as a member of the police department, I was really shocked to see this and thought that the situation has came to such a pass that they could not even bear the photographs of the martyrs being placed in a government building, let alone spare our lives.
On the other hand, the police department, which has to provide security against such extremists, has to face terrorists having such mindset.
Another tragedy recently occurred at the Central Police Office, Quetta. The name plates outside the offices of the Hazara police officers were broken by some unknown person or persons while dirt was splattered on the plates.
In such a situation, I am afraid that the noose is being tightened around our neck and we are left with no option but to live in fear not only because of extremism, but also because of people around us with whom we have everyday business.
Or should I say we have to fear our shadows as well?
This is the situation we are living in. Through these columns, I want to alert the authorities having power to eradicate this menace. I would like them to act quickly.
Otherwise, the situation will get from bad to worse.
TAQI RAMZAN
Quetta
Monday, December 31, 2012
’پاکستان میں بڑھتی ہوئی دہشتگردی نفرت انگیز‘
آخری وقت اشاعت: پير 31 دسمبر 2012
’یہ اندوہناک دہشت گردی کے واقعات کسی کسی مقصد یا محرومی کی توجیہہ نہیں بن سکتے‘
اقوام متحدہ کے سیکرٹری جنرل بان کی مون نے پاکستان میں دہشت گردی کے بڑھتے ہوئے واقعات ’نفرت انگیز‘ قرار دیا ہے۔
اقوام متحدہ کے سربراہ نے بیان میں اتوار کے روز پشاور کے نزدیک ایک چیک پوائنٹ سے اغوا کیے گئے اکیس نیم فوجی اہلکاروں اور صوبہ بلوچستان کے علاقے میں مستونگ میں انیس شیعہ زائرین کی ہلاکت کی مذمت کی۔
بان کی مون کے ترجمان مارٹن نیسرکی کا کہنا ہے کہ سیکرٹری جنرل نے خاص طور پر پاکستان میں کلِکاقلیتوں کے خلاف دہشت گردی کی کارروائیوں کی مذمت کی ہے۔
ترجمان کے مطابق انہوں نے پشاور کے نزدیک سے اغوا کیے گئےکلِکاکیس نیم فوجی اہلکاروں کی شدت پسندوں کے ہاتھوں ہلاکت کی بھی سخت الفاظ میں مذمت کی ہے۔
بیان میں کہا گیا ہے ’یہ اندوہناک دہشت گردی کے واقعات کسی کسی مقصد یا محرومی کی توجیح نہیں بن سکتے۔ ایسی کارروائیوں میں ملوث افراد کو انصاف کے کٹہرے میں لایا جائے۔‘
اقوام متحدہ کے سیکرٹری جنرل نے حکومتِ پاکستان اور عوام کو یقین دلایا کہ عالمی تنظیم ان کے ساتھ ہے اور ’اداروں اور آزادی کو دہشت گردی کے نرغے سے بچانے کی تمام کاوشوں کی حمایت کرتی ہے‘۔
واضح رہے کہ جمعرات کو پشاور کے نزدیک ماشو خیل میں ایک چیک پوائنٹ سے اغوا کیے جانے والے اکیس نیم فوجی اہلکاروں کو شدت پسندوں نے اتوار کے روز گولیاں مار کر ہلاک کر دیا تھا۔
پاکستانی حکام کے مطابق پشاور سے تقریباً چالیس کلومیٹر دور جنوب کی جانب نیم قبائلی علاقے حسن خیل سے اکیس لیویز اہلکاروں کی لاشیں ملی تھیں۔
تحریک طالبان پاکستان درہ آدم خیل کے ترجمان محمد نےایک نامعلوم مقام سے فون کر کے ان اہلکاروں کی ہلاکت کی ذمہ داری قبول کی اور بتایا کہ یہ مولانا گل نصیب، عبدالحمید، فیصل اور پیر صاحب کی مبینہ طور پر زیر حراست ہلاکت کا بدلہ تھا۔
اتوار ہی کے روز صوبہ بلوچستان کے علاقے مستونگ میں شیعہ زائرین کی بسوں پر کار بم حملے کے نتیجے میں انیس افراد ہلاک اور پچیس زخمی ہوگئے تھے۔
صوبہ بلوچستان میں شیعہ مسلک سے تعلق رکھنے والے افراد کی ٹارگٹ کلنگ میں کافی اضافہ ہوا ہے۔
Sunday, December 30, 2012
A story of the ‘others’: Hazara Shias lose all hope in Pakistan
By Farahnaz Zahidi
Published: December 31, 2012
Muslim groups demonstrate against the Taliban killings of Shias in Pakistan December 7, 2012 during the "10,000 Souls March" in New York. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
Shabana Khan* speaks from behind a screen put up to protect her identity at a recent women’s assembly. I cannot see her. I do not know what her age is. I have no way of observing her non-verbal communication. But what I do know is that this is a person in pain. Intense pain has resulted in eloquence as well as a defiant, almost rebellious fearlessness. She is a young woman from the Shia Hazara community and lives in Quetta. This is an excerpt of the story she tells of herself and her community:
“Death is waiting around the corner. Before that, I must share what it means to be a Shia Hazara. Today, I am going to share a bit of my story – the story of me and my people. When one of us comes in front of you, you mostly label us Chinese or Korean. Our complexions are not like yours, neither is our race or genetic composition. We are the ‘others’. And our pain is that of the others. We are Pakistanis but not considered a part of you. Very few will raise their voice for us, even when 27 of us are taken off a bus and are shot and killed just because we are Shias. Just because we have Mongol-like features. Just because we migrated here from Afghanistan.
What is our crime, I still don’t understand. We pay taxes. We make useful things out of spare parts. We want to be peaceful contributors towards the progress of our country, Pakistan. We dream of a beautiful Pakistan where all sects and ethnicities work together towards a common goal.
But what is the reality? How many of you can relate to 5 dead bodies being taken out of a house – father, brothers, sons. What do the women of that house go through? What is the future of these women? Of the Shia Hazara women? When they step outside the four walls of their homes once the men have been slaughtered, to earn a living because they have no other choice, vultures start circling. These are men who have been directly or indirectly responsible for lifting the roof off their heads. Responsible for killing the men in their lives. They offer help to these women in exchange for not cash but kind. I am one of those women.
As a girl from the Shia Hazara community, I know my life is forever at risk which is why I am hidden behind a screen for my safety as I speak to you. But trust me when I say that if tomorrow I am killed, my death will not make newspaper news unless a mass massacre happens. Most killings of my community don’t make it to national news.
Why do you take each other’s pictures? Mementos? We, the Hazaras, now photograph each other knowing that probably these photographs, especially of our men, will be placed on their dead bodies during their funeral. The area of the Ganj-e-Shuhada graveyard for the Hazara community is being extended. More dead than alive. And the rest a community of the living dead…constantly living in a state of fear.... Continue Reading....
Published: December 31, 2012
Muslim groups demonstrate against the Taliban killings of Shias in Pakistan December 7, 2012 during the "10,000 Souls March" in New York. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
Shabana Khan* speaks from behind a screen put up to protect her identity at a recent women’s assembly. I cannot see her. I do not know what her age is. I have no way of observing her non-verbal communication. But what I do know is that this is a person in pain. Intense pain has resulted in eloquence as well as a defiant, almost rebellious fearlessness. She is a young woman from the Shia Hazara community and lives in Quetta. This is an excerpt of the story she tells of herself and her community:
“Death is waiting around the corner. Before that, I must share what it means to be a Shia Hazara. Today, I am going to share a bit of my story – the story of me and my people. When one of us comes in front of you, you mostly label us Chinese or Korean. Our complexions are not like yours, neither is our race or genetic composition. We are the ‘others’. And our pain is that of the others. We are Pakistanis but not considered a part of you. Very few will raise their voice for us, even when 27 of us are taken off a bus and are shot and killed just because we are Shias. Just because we have Mongol-like features. Just because we migrated here from Afghanistan.
What is our crime, I still don’t understand. We pay taxes. We make useful things out of spare parts. We want to be peaceful contributors towards the progress of our country, Pakistan. We dream of a beautiful Pakistan where all sects and ethnicities work together towards a common goal.
But what is the reality? How many of you can relate to 5 dead bodies being taken out of a house – father, brothers, sons. What do the women of that house go through? What is the future of these women? Of the Shia Hazara women? When they step outside the four walls of their homes once the men have been slaughtered, to earn a living because they have no other choice, vultures start circling. These are men who have been directly or indirectly responsible for lifting the roof off their heads. Responsible for killing the men in their lives. They offer help to these women in exchange for not cash but kind. I am one of those women.
As a girl from the Shia Hazara community, I know my life is forever at risk which is why I am hidden behind a screen for my safety as I speak to you. But trust me when I say that if tomorrow I am killed, my death will not make newspaper news unless a mass massacre happens. Most killings of my community don’t make it to national news.
Why do you take each other’s pictures? Mementos? We, the Hazaras, now photograph each other knowing that probably these photographs, especially of our men, will be placed on their dead bodies during their funeral. The area of the Ganj-e-Shuhada graveyard for the Hazara community is being extended. More dead than alive. And the rest a community of the living dead…constantly living in a state of fear.... Continue Reading....
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