The community who earned fame for being highly literate, sociable, accustomed to fair business, admired for harmonious social interaction, inclined to active participation in societal progress is worthless and abandoned today. My heart bleeds, hand shivers, mind sticks and body freezes, learning irreparable, a decade long harms of Hazaras for unremitting subjection to state of mayhem and statelessness, where a handful of terrorists fearlessly roam within the city hunting an unarmed hapless Hazara vendors, travelers, merchants to further their extreme agenda and please their paid masters.
The law enforcement agencies standing at a walking distance from the sight of incidence turn blind eyes and deaf ear to what happens, instead ease a safe passage to perpetrators of vicious crime. This is in acquiescence with heart wrecking tale Muhammad Ali, the only survivor of infamous Spiny Road’s brutal yellow cap attack, told me, “The instant terrorists began spraying bullets on the vehicle we were ridding, I managed to veil myself, even then I received two sever bullet injuries but survived luckily, the rest four in the vehicle including the driver had received multiple gunshots were breathing their last breaths due to excessive blood loss.
After the gunfire halted I got out of the vehicle and found a police mobile van standing at walking distance from the scene of incidence that seemed to be indifferent and ignorant of the incident. Being completely stained with blood I went to policemen asking for help who startled at me and spoke a detestable tone, how we survived! It was too late when the rescue ambulances reached the scene consequently none could survive except me. I can never forget that cold heartedness demonstrated by the public gathered around us and inequitable attitude by sustainer of law and order.”
No safe sanctuary left for Hazaras of Quetta as they are passing through unending pain of victimization. “Hazaras travelling on foot or ridding a vehicle life security is not guaranteed. If you leave for work to earn life sustaining commodities for your family, the safe and sound return rests upon the free will of the terrorists. The vehicles transporting Hazara passengers have turned to death stretchers for carrying them to graveyard instead of desired destiny. If a vehicle known to carrying number of Hazara shia travelers, merchants, students and labors is struck by massive explosives laden cars, smashing it into pieces.
The kith and kin of victims driven mad by heart-quaking news, rush to the scene to identify the far and wide scattered body parts of departed souls, some burnt to ashes and others left with dissected heads or bifurcated arms and legs. Some motorbikes riding assailants spray bullets indiscriminately on unarmed Hazara shia and manage to escape without fearing incarceration; nonetheless the city reflects a mini military camp with Frontier Corps personnel stationed few kilometers apart and infliction of strict ban on carrying firearms,” says Enayat Ullah, a college lecturer.
The avenues, subways and highways of the landscape of Baluchistan, witnessed brutal mass massacres of members of ill-fated Hazaras community, inhabiting in Baluchistan for ages. Over the period of 13 years Hazaras are subjected to wicked homicide, resulting to their coerced segregation and deprivation from the hub of educational, social and economic endeavors. Over 900 Hazaras have been killed since 1999 and 120 Hazaras were shot dead in 61 attacks in 2012 in Quetta. The turn of the year tripled the endemic tribulation and suffering of Hazaras.
The first week of 2013 witnessed, 90 Hazaras butchered in gigantic suicide attack on Hazara populated Alamdar Road on Thursday, injuring over 160, with inclusion to former ambush at Spiny Road killing 1 injuring several, 3 coal miners in Macchh district, and 1 store keeper in Khuzdar district.
The ordeal doesn’t end here; over 30000 Hazaras have fled butchery in the search for safe haven, a number of of whom sink in the deep ocean linking Australia and Indonesia, and outnumber face lengthened imprisonment, awaiting the reversal of their ill-fate. Sajjad Ali shared his regretting tale how he survived subsequent to rupture of an overloaded boat that began to descend. “We headed towards Australia from coast of Indonesia, in a fishing boat loaded with120 people that could scarcely bear 50.
We hardly had covered a distance of few kilometers; the boat gave up and busted. None had survived if another fishing boat had not rescued us at the moment. We spent a week in a wide forest waterless and empty stomach fearing re-apprehension. All in vain, we were apprehended by the end of the week by Indonesian police. We are incarcerated till date.” There are multiple cases when boats had broken and drowned with none survivor. It depicts, unsympathetic death pursues Hazaras everywhere on the land and the sea, because of unvarying negligence of government that had let Hazara genocide perpetuate unhampered.
The genocide is clearly described in article two of Genocide Convention, stating any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. The article is in compliance to what is happening to Hazaras in Quetta.
Subsequently it defines all those involved in genocidal crimes are punishable under Article 3 of convention which states that any group involved either in conspiracy to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide, complicit in genocide or involved in direct and public incitement to commit genocide are worthy of punishment. Pakistan is one out of 144 states that ratified Genocide convention. When will the government intends bringing the perpetrators of crime of genocide to justice, a question still seeking its fate?
The extremists of outlawed Lashakari Jangvi (LeJ) involved in mass killing of Hazara, vociferously claim the attacks, enjoys safe haven and seeks patronage from some influential provincial ministers. The stated pronouncement tallies with claims made by provincial home minister accusing cabinet members involved in criminal and sectarian activities. Numerous people believe that if perpetrators would have been brought to book, killings wouldn’t have augmented with time. The query waits responds, who should uphold the law and order when human benefiters have joined the murderers?
Constitutionally speaking Hazaras are denied their fundamental rights; the right to liberty, the right to freedom of movement, the right to freedom of religion and the right to peaceful assembly. The protection and promotion of fundamental rights lies among core objective and top priority of every state and its institutions. However, the federal and provincial governments of Pakistan seems defiant to the provisions of constitution and Geneva Convention for being failed upholding the law and order and halting the continuation of Hazara genocide.
Observing the display of apathetic attitude by Pakistani media and civil society I recollect Einstein’s great saying, “The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything.” Pakistani media and civil society in confirmation with government resorted to keep silence on sufferings of an unfortunate community. There is negligible reporting on Hazara shia mass massacre in comparison to magnitude of losses.
The United Nation should not rest to condemnation; nevertheless it should share the agonies of Hazaras being constantly surfaced by creditable Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) and should inquire into the causes delaying justice deliverance. Government should pursue freeing Hazaras from constant siege of harassment so that they could rejoin the social, economical and educational hemisphere. May it happen?