The world turns a blind eye to killing of Hazaras in Pakistan

The Chief Minister of Baluchistan, Nawab Raisani, has shown no sympathy for Hazara victims in the province for which he is responsible. He said in a recent comment to the media addressing the bereaved families ‘We will send over truckloads of tissue paper, so they can wipe out their sorry tears.’

In recent years, Quetta has become infested with extremist groups.After the collapse of the Taliban in 2001, Quetta which lies on the border of Afghanistan, has become a safe haven to Quetta Shura and members of the Taliban leadership including, Mullah Ommar.

Another terrorist group that freely operates in Quetta is Lashkar-e-Jhagavi (LeJ). The group has been responsible for violence against Hazaras.It is a banned by the UK, US and the Australian government.

This militant group shares strategic and ideological goals with the Taliban in Afghanistan. They consider that the Hazaras are not Muslim and their killing justified. LeJ distributed leaflet in Pakistan saying:

Just as our fighters [referring to the Taliban who massacred Hazaras in Afghanistan] have waged a successful Jihad against the Shiite Hazaras in Afghanistan, our mission in Pakistan is the eradication of this impure sect and its followers from every city, every village and every nook and corner of Pakistan.

There has been a spate of sectarian violence and terrorist attacks gripping the whole of Pakistan, targeting other minority groups like Ahmadi and Baluch. However, the Hazara situation is quite different for two reasons.

First, Hazaras, are easily identifiable because of their distinctive facial Mongol features. Last year in September, a group of 29 Hazaras travelling on a bus en route to Iran were forced to get off, leaving the non-Hazaras passengers, then lined up and shot in Mastung, Quetta.

Second, the Hazara are Shiite in a predominantly Sunni country. They have been attacked by Sunni extremist groups that view the Shiite as heretics. There are other ethnic groups in Pakistan who are Shiite (Shiite represent about 20% of population in Pakistan) but Hazaras bear the brunt of most the attacks in recent years because of their ethnicity (appearance).

The Sunni extremist ideology in Pakistan was cultivated under the military dictatorship of General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, 1977 to 1988, with the support of the United States to bolster fight against the Soviet Union. Zia Ul-Haq also had other purpose in mind in supporting the Sunni extremists; it was to counter the influence of Iranian 1979 revolution.

Also the Hazaras have been victims of regional players pitted one group against another. Saudi Arabia has been funding extremist Deobandi Sunnis and Wahabis in Pakistan since the Afghan Jihad while Iran supporting the Shiite militant groups such as Sipah-e-Muhammad. They were in fierce battle, attacking each other, causing many deaths.

Haqqani, the former ambassador to the US wrote in New York Times last week that Pakistan is the only country in the world that commemorated the anniversary of Osama Bin Ladin’s death.Thus we should all be concerned about the violence in, and the future of, a nuclear armed Pakistan. No one wants to see the terrorist groups who got free reign in Pakistan to get hold of nuclear bomb. Unimaginable things would happen.

The plight of Hazara maybe invisible to the world as they are not in the headlines but what is unfolding in Quetta is genocide with the implications for peace far beyond Pakistan. Hazaras stretch out their hands to the world and hope the human rights groups, governments and peace loving people will act soon before it is too late.