Friday, October 24, 2014
Situationer | Hazaras: Fault in their faces
By Mohammed Hanif
“Hazaras, you know, are our ladla babies,” said one of Quetta’s senior most police officer earlier this month. “We’ll do anything to protect them.” He was giving an off the record briefing and went into some detail about the number of security cordons he had thrown around the Hazara community in Quetta, particularly Hazara town. And what about their movement? Students, traders, office workers? Students going to the university, according to the police officer, got a police escort. The problems of food delivery were discussed. “Even the vegetable vendors get police escort,” he said triumphantly. And then like a true philosopher of law and order he went on to explain: “Do you know the basic problem with Hazaras? They look different; because of their features, they are easily identifiable.”
On Thursday, when eight of those pampered babies, with different features, were gunned down while buying fruit and vegetables, Quetta’s police was quick to absolve themselves. “We offered them escort, and they just didn’t tell us.” Blaming the victim is the oldest sport in the country but here the law-enforcers seemed to be saying that if Hazaras are so fond of becoming martyrs, who can stop them?
Haji Abdul Qayyum Changezi, the head of Hazara Qaumi Jirga and a survivor of many Hazara massacres, still thinks there is a way to stop it. Earlier this month, in his Hazara Town office, he was surrounded by fellow survivors. A man had lost his entire family. “Yes all of them,” the man shook his head and refused to say anything more. Here was a transporter who had lost all his business. An eight-year-old kid with a scar across his face who lost his mother in the Mastung bus massacre. “I was sitting in the front of the bus playing with my brother, my mother was at the back,” was all he could remember. Homes in Hazra Town were full of teenagers who couldn’t go to university and their parents who couldn’t go to their jobs while amateurish looking gunmen sat on streets corners trying to do DIY security....Continue Reading...
Thursday, October 23, 2014
The Forgotten Victims of Terror
Labour MP for Southampton, Itchen
Posted: 04/09/2014 22:35 BST Updated: 04/09/2014 22:59 BST
Ethnic and religious minorities have faced appalling violence from ISIL forces in Iraq and Syria. But another community has suffered at the hands of very similar ideologues for far too long. Decisions at this weekend's Nato conference may help determine their future too.
The Hazara are an indigenous people of Afghanistan, with a small community in Quetta, Pakistan, established over 100 years ago by Hazaras fleeing religious persecution.
In both countries, the predominantly Shia Hazaras have suffered from the violence inflicted by Sunni extremists on the wider Shia community, as well as other minorities. But in part the Hazara have suffered because their distinctive ethnic identity makes them easily identifiable and targets for prejudice and discrimination.
In Afghanistan, thousands of Hazaras were massacred during the civil war and under the Taliban government. The fall of the Taliban brought representation in the political system and support for the Hazaras' long-standing commitment to education for girls and boys, though widespread discrimination persists. There have still been atrocities, notably the killing of more than 60 people, mostly Hazaras, in Ashura in December 2011.
The Nato summit occurs as fears rise about what will happen after international troops are withdrawn. Secure and stable government is by no means assured, and the current political stalemate following the elections is hardly encouraging. The security situation is becoming increasingly volatile, and Taliban forces are increasing their control of territory. There has been killing and forced displacement of Hazaras from Khas Uruzgan and killings and disappearances along the roads from Kabul to Bamiyan, Ghazni and Heart. Thirty Hazaras were killed three separate attacks on those highways in July 2014 alone...Continue Reading...
Gunmen Kill 8 Members of Persecuted Minority in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — At least eight men were killed and two others wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a bus in southwesternPakistan, the police and rescue officials said.
The victims were ethnic Hazara, a Persian-speaking Shiite Muslim minority group that has been repeatedly targeted by Sunni extremists in recent years.
Officials said the bus was attacked by four to six gunmen on motorcycles on the outskirts of Quetta, capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan.
The victims were vegetable sellers who were returning to a local Hazara enclave from a market, the police said...Continue Reading..
Quetta: Eight Hazara men killed in gun attack on bus
CM Balochistan, PM Nawaz and President Mamnoon condemned the attack.
QUETTA (Web Desk) – At least eight people were killed and a person got injured when unknown gunmen opened fire on a bus in Hazar Ganji area on the outskirts of Quetta on Thursday morning, Dunya News reported.
The victims, belonging to Hazara Community, were shopkeepers who were going back after buying fruits and vegetables from Sabzi Mandi.
The injured man was shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) while the police have taken bus driver into custody for interrogation.
Investigation officer Aitzaz Ahmed said the suspects have used 9mm pistoles in the attack, they managed to escape from the scene due to rush in the area.
Protesting against the incident, Hazara Democratic Party and Tahafuz-e-Azadari have announced three days of mourning.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain condemned the incident and expressed deep sorrow and grief over the incident.
Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, and has been plagued by a separatist rebellion as well as sectarian violence.
Hundreds of Hazaras in Quetta have been killed in attacks over the past few years.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
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