The Hazara community, including women, children and civil society continued their sit-in in different parts of the country for the second straight day against the killing of 11 miners in the Mach area of Balochistan on Sunday.
It is extremely difficult to find a single household of the Hazara community in Quetta that has not been victimized by targeted killing since 1999.
It is a confined community, due to their sect, they are in a state of captivity for the past 22-years in the country. It is a great concern that a peace-loving, progressive and hardworking community has been subjected to systematic persecution.
The killing of 11 coal miners
On Sunday, 11 coal miners were killed in the Mach area of Balochistan after unknown armed terrorists and took them to nearby mountains before opening fire at close range.
Police sources said the workers were on the way to work when the terrorist kidnapped them and took them to the nearby mountains.
Sources further said six of the works were dead on the spot, and five who were critically injured died on the way to a hospital. The preliminary investigation disclosed the attackers identified the workers as being from the Shia Hazara community and the militants took them away for execution, leaving others unharmed.
A heavy contingent of security forces, Frontier Corps, district administration officials and police reached the spot after the incident. However, no case has been registered so far. Following the killing, members of the Hazara community, including women, children and civil society in Quetta blocked the Western Bypass and set fire to tyres to protest against the killings.
PM Imran, others condemned the killing
Prime Minister Imran Khan had condemned the miners’ killing, terming it yet another gutless inhumane act of terrorism. “Have asked the Frontier Corps to use all resources to arrest these killers and bring them to justice. The families of the victims will not be left abandoned by the govt, the PM said in a tweet.
Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed while denouncing the killings asked the inspector general Balochistan police to submit a detailed inquiry report in this regard.
Terrorists will not succeed in their wicked objectives. Terrorists involved in the incident are not deserving of any laxity, he said in a Twitter post.
Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said: “Indian funded terrorists in Balochistan getting are more desperate as development comes to the province”.
“Socioeconomic empowerment & Insaf for the Baloch are how we will defeat the terrorists,” she tweeted.
Continuous incidents of terrorism
Hazara community has been regularly targeted by Taliban and IS militants and other militant groups in Pakistan for a long time. In a similar incident, six people of the Shia Hazara community were killed and one injured when gunmen opened indiscriminate fire at their vehicle in the Mach area of Bolan district in 2016.
A firing incident took place on Kasi Road in Quetta on October 9, 2017, as a result, five members of the Hazara community were killed and one was injured. Unidentified terrorists managed to escape from the scene after the incident.
In the provincial capital Quetta, on April 28, 2018, unidentified gunmen opened fire and killed two people belonging to the Hazara community. The incident took place on Jamaluddin Afghani Road in Quetta.
According to a report, released in March 2018, by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), more than 509 people from the community had been killed and 727 had been wounded in Quetta during the last six years.
Several Hazaras have lost their lives in attacks targeting their community in the area as authorities have failed to take concrete steps to protect the lives and property of the people.
Every Hazara family has a tale of pain and anguish to tell, one which it relives each day. It has deeply affected their means of life. It has been observed that they themselves have become violent in retort to the violence inflicted upon the community.
Members of their group are migrating to other countries; a huge number of them have gone abroad to find a civilized way of life, where they can live without the panic of being killed just because of their division of sect.
Two possible ways to deal with this issue
It observed that the police and other forces, despite themselves being victims of targeted killings and terrorism, have gained some substantial success by arresting proclaimed offenders and high-value targets with the aid of the Counter-Terrorism Department.
However, there are certain intrinsic limitations; for example, in all the cases of targeted killings, the conviction rate in the incidents is very lower. In such cases of targeted killing, private persons are hesitant to come forward as complainants; cases are lodged on the behalf of the state, which eventually gives assistance to the accused.
Further, witnesses are not ready to provide evidence or testimony in a court, fearing the cost of being subsequently targeted themselves. There are two possible ways to deal with this issue: demoniac or kinetic and non-kinetic.
Kinetic steps tackle the operational aspect by ensuring that the accused is arrested, probed and sent up for trial. It’s a temporary solution in which we can only quench the visible inferno. Non-kinetic steps deal with the problem, where stress is laid on human development, the provision of opportunities and careful resource allocation.
Pakistan has done much on the kinetic step, particularly after the implementation of the National Action Plan and the establishment of the Counter-Terrorism Department, although the non-kinetic front — which can truly change the social pattern — calls for more attention.
Authorities must together realize the consequences
The provincial government, and to a greater extent the federal powers that be, have a responsibility not only to protect the community and guarantee them their rights and freedoms but also to revitalize their hope of a decent future as full citizens of Pakistan.
The community’s feelings of helplessness and hopelessness branch not only from the state’s failure to defend their lives and property, but they also stem from their faith that the governments guard their tormentors.
The authorities of the country must together realize the results of tolerating the anti-Hazara elements. Hitherto the world has tended to treat the Hazara killings as manifestations of sectarian prejudice. If the issue and killings are not stopped the verdict against Pakistan could be much harsher.
