The Hazara community in Pakistan has been hit by a rising number of targeted killings. Last month, the Hazaras – a Shiite minority – lost six men in four separate drive-by shootings in Quetta, capital of the volatile Balochistan province.
The last attack, on April 28, which killed Jaffar Ali and Muhammad Ali on Quetta’s Jamaluddin Afghani Road, prompted a hunger strike by members of the Hazara community over the targeted killings.
The Hazaras are an ethnic minority that adhere to the Shia sect of Islam. Most of their 900,000 members live in Balochistan, in and around Quetta. With Uzbek and Turkic genetic roots, the Hazaras have distinguishable physical features, which makes them easy to be targeted by anti-Shia jihadist groups.
Hazaras have been persecuted in the region for their religious beliefs and identity for centuries, but attacks on the community have jumped since 9/11 – the al-Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center in New York in September 2001 – with the advent of the Afghan Taliban, al-Qaeda, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) in Balochistan.
After the latest spate of killings, which also includes targeting of local Christians, the Hazaras launched their hunger strike with the aim of conveying its concerns directly to the Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
‘Enough is enough’
“After the gun attack on April 28, I said enough is enough,” Hazara activist Jalila Haider, who led the hunger strike, told Asia Times. “With the increase in our insecurities, we realized that we had to take drastic measures, otherwise the killings would go on non-stop as they have been since 9/11.”
More than 500 Hazaras have been killed in Quetta alone over the past five years, according to a report released by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) in March. The report titled ‘Understanding the Agonies of Ethnic Hazaras’ reveals that as many as 509 members of the Hazara community were killed and 627 injured between January 2012 and Dec 2017.
“[The hunger strike] got a lot of coverage on social media, which is how it reached the Army chief quickly,” Jalila Haider said.
“[Balochistan home minister] Sarfraz Bugti had come [to see us] on the second day [of the strike] to reassure us and ask us to end the hunger strike. I told him ‘There’s no use because you are helpless’. I personally wanted the Army Chief to come because I believe the security — both external and internal — is completely under the Army’s control.”
Most of the recent attacks on the Hazara community in the region have been claimed by Islamic State (ISIS) and the LeJ – Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
“The LeJ is working as an affiliate of ISIS in the region. They don’t have any operational overlap, but LeJ is using the ISIS umbrella to launch these attacks,” Maj Gen Saad Khattak told Asia Times. “Also, if you notice the modus operandi of these attacks – roadside drive-by attacks, this is classic ISIS strategy, which the group has implemented the world over.”
The overlap of the LeJ and ISIS ideologies, in addition to their inherent anti-Shia outlook, makes the two groups natural allies, and that is why they have collaborated on many operations within Pakistan.
However, for the local Hazaras, the threat isn’t limited to ISIS. Jalila Haider says that a list of demands was shared with the Army chief when she met him during the hunger strike.
Frontier Corps linked to attacks?
“First, over 3,000 Hazaras have been killed since 9/11 and nothing has been done for their families. We demand that the families of the victims be helped,” she said.
“Second, people are being killed near Frontier Corp check-posts. We Hazaras believe that the terrorist attacks have increased since the creation of the check-posts,” added Haider, who also conveyed that concern to the Army Chief.
“[Gen Qamar Bajwa] said ‘Of course it’s a mindset that has existed in the institution for 40 years, so it might be possible that these people are facilitating the attacks, which we will investigate’” Haider said.
The Hazaras told the Army chief and Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal their economic circumstances have deteriorated, as discrimination against the group has caused some to lose their jobs. Some families have had to sell properties to survive; land worth 10 million Pakistani rupees has been sold for 20% of its value.
Locals claim that around 90,000 Hazaras have had to flee their homes over the past decade. Many have disappeared, drowned, or gone missing. Widows and families claim that they are insulted at passport and National Database and Registration offices, where officials demand favors and money.
“We want the authorities to see if there are beneficiaries of these killings other than ISIS. We want action against land mafias, and any military personnel involved,” Haider says. “We have demanded the empowerment of police because currently, they have no authority.”
With CPEC the Hazara misery may be coming to an end soon.
Of Toynbee’s 5 living civilizations today (Hellenic West, Christian Russia, Islam, Sinics, Indics), the Muslims have been the most troublesome.
While the other 4 generally lived in peace with each other, exchanging goods, people, skills, ideas, only the Muslims stuck their vile finger in one ass and all – de-populating Christian Europe, looting Indics, blocking trade to prevent China, India, and Europe from progress. While the Christians, Indics, and West bid their time for retribution, only the Sinics were were able to put the Muslims in their place without delay and at once. In 1258 Mongol Khan decapitated Kaliphate razing its centre Baghdad, burning libraries and madressahs, killing priests and populace. In 1399 Timurlane laid Muslim India to waste.
The Shia faction opposed Muslim plans to oppress the world, making them continual targets of Muslim ire. While Muslims have gradually become anti-Mohammedan, anti-Quranic, unable to tolerate others, the Shia continue Mohammedan practice of living in peace – with Christians, with Hindus, with Sinics. Every time Muslim sins invite inevitable retribution, the Shia save them. In Baghdad where the Mongols proceded to kill its 2,000,000, Shia Tusi pleaded with Khans to spare the Muslim very young and very old males and women. Same in Tughlaq Delhi. Later When colonial Raj extinguished Muslim Mughal Empire, a Shia Jinnah saved Indian Muslims’ neck by pleading the departing English for Pakistan. Yet, the Muslims continue to terrorize the Shia.
The same scenario now dawns in Pakistan. There, today’s 50,000 strong Chinese are destined to grow to 500,000 to keep an eye on their $60 Billion CPEC. As Muslims never learn, with history as guide, Muslims are doing their usual – kidnap Chinese for ransom, steal their assets, hoodwink them, loot them, live off them. CPEC is a mega tragedy in offing for Muslims again.
As China grows, Muslim violence against Shia in general and Hazaras in particular will cease: Silk Road economics and Chinese race. Incidentally, the entire Sinic population of Pakistan – Hazaras, Gilgit, Baltistan are Shia. The Chinese are very race sensitive and will not tolerate their blood brothers being mistreated by Muslims. Once enraged, they will likely react like Helagu and Timurlane.
Moreover, Muslims are trade exploiters, not the Shia who are free traders as Mohammed was. As China pushes BRI they have prodded Russia and Iran to depopulate New Silk Road routes of Muslims and replace them with Shia to prevent a Kaliphate Encore trade block – once bitten, twice shy. As Maggie Thatcher famously put – "the problem with other people’s money is that it ends sooner or later". The Muslim party of living off others is over, Shia Hazaras may rejoice.