The Hazara community, residing in and around Quetta City, has been easy prey for terrorists. The Hazaras, hailing from the Shia sect, had been living in Afghanistan since 1880s, but almost all had to migrate to Pakistan after they were subjected to persecution and violence between 1883 and 1893 by Afghan King Abdur Rehman.
Over 60 percent of the total Hazara population was killed or displaced during Abdur Rehman’s reign, with thousands fleeing to Quetta and its adjoining areas.
The alleged genocide of Hazaras continued during 1990s at the hands of the Afghan Taliban. Let’s take an in-depth review of persecution of Hazara people and India’s state-sponsored terrorism.
Attacks on Hazara people
The ethnic cleansing of the Hazaras, whose ethnicity is easily identifiable due to their physical features, was also carried out unabated by some disbanded terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
Chronicles of History reveal that while Hazara women and old men were sold as slaves, many young Hazara girls were kept as concubines by Afghan kings after 1888.
On February 9, 2001 at least, when eight passengers traveling in a van en route from Hazara Town to Alamdar road of the provincial Metropolis were shot dead mercilessly by unknown gunmen.
June 8, 2003: A dozen Hazara police cadets were killed when two assailants opened fire on their vehicle. In July, 2003, some 55 people were killed and over 150 were injured in an attack on worshipers during Friday Prayers in Quetta.
March 2, 2004: At least 60 people were killed when a religious procession of the Shia Muslims was attacked with extensive open-firing which followed an explosion by extremists at Liaquat Bazaar in Quetta.
September 3, 2010: At least 73 people were killed and 206 injured when a bomb exploded during a rally in Quetta. May 6, 2011: Eight people were killed when some armed men had fired rockets at Hazara people playing outside in an open field.
March 29, 2012: A cab carrying passengers from Hazara Town was sprayed with bullets, which killed seven and injured six. April 3, 2012: Two Hazara men were shot dead in Mekongi road, Quetta, as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had claimed responsibility for the attack.
January 10, 2013: Several bombings took place in Quetta, killing at least 115 people in total and wounding more than 270.
February 16, 2013: A deadly bomb blast at Kirani Road, near Hazara Town of Quetta, had killed 73 and wounded at least 180 people from Shia community. June 30, 2013: At least 33 Hazaras were killed when Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists had exploded an improvised explosive device in a crowded area in Ali Abad, Hazara Town area.
On April 11, 2019, a suicide bomber killed 20 people at the Hazar Ganji vegetable market in Quetta, prompting the Hazara community to stage a sit-in on the western bypass of Quetta.
Indian state-sponsored terrorism
India has been the main sponsor of terrorism in Pakistan over the decades. The Indian consulates were funding other sub-nationalists groups also, in particular those which worked and tried and destablise Balochistan. One such organistaion that is carrying out terrorist attacks in the province is the Balochistan Liberation Army, designated as a terrorist organisation by Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Meanwhile, India has been trying to convince the Baloch that the biggest external threat comes from China and in this regard the CPEC projects and Chinese interests in Pakistan have been attacked on India’s behalf over the years.
According to the dossier presented to UNSG members by Pakistan recently, the Indian campaign against Pakistan includes sponsorship of Baloch insurgents to disrupt CPEC; merging TTP splinter groups and creating a coalition between the TTP and the Baloch; providing weapons; raising a special force of 700 to sabotage CPEC; training anti-Pakistan terrorists in camps in Afghanistan and India.
