Target Killing of the Hazara Community in Quetta

Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) staged a protest rally inside Quetta city last day against the killing of the Hazara community people in Baluchistan.HDP is the only political body representing Hazara People in Baluchistan in the provincial and national assemblies. This party most of the time wins the seats from the Hazara dominant areas of Quetta city and else where. This time their protest was not against any price increase or against the government but against those unknown people who are continuously targeting the Hazara people in Quetta.The killers of the Hazara community people are unknown. The only information available about them is that they are armed people riding motorbikes and firing on Hazara Community people. Neither these killers have any time disclosed their identity openly nor they have been arrested.

Same like the identity of the killers, the reasons are also unknown why these Hazara community people are being killed this much brutally. Who have personal enmity with the entire Hazara Tribe? What benefits the killers get out of it? Do the killers get any financial gains out of these killings? The answers is obviously not known. These killers never loot any property and neither ever has tried to get financial means out of it. The only thing the killers are interested in,is the 'life' of the people from Hazara tribe.

In order to make myself understand of this situation during 2009 I personally visited such kind of stage protest and had interview with the then Chairman of the Hazara Democratic Party ,Hussain Ali Yousafi.This interview took place few months before the assignation of Hussain Ali Yousafi.Here is the interview in more detail.

My first question was definitely about the protest the political party was holding on the day? Why are u holding the protest rally today?

Chairman HDP: Unknown people are regularly killing our community members with out any reasons. We are that’s why having a peaceful rally against this brutality.

Question: Who do you think who is involved after this killing? Any proclamation from any side?

Chairman HDP: One just can’t say anything that who is involved and what objectives the killers have and why the killers are targeting the Hazara people only. Sometimes Lashk-re-Jhangvi has proclaimed the responsibilities but not always. Majority of the time no one takes responsibility of the killings here in Quetta.This is a mysterious situation for us all.

Question: Do you think any liberation moment section involved in this killing?

Chairman HDP: No, not at all. The liberation armies of the Baloch rebel groups are involved in killings but they are targeting the government people,state agencies and settlers most of the time. With respect to Hazara people they are not involved in any activity because the Hazara Tribe is the natural inhabitant of the Quetta.

Question: Do you think it is something tribal conflict or have any religious sectarianism?

Chairman HDP: It is purely a religious sectarianism. Some sections in the society are involved in this killing. The tribes are living here for centuries and have been never in conflict with each other with respect to any territorial or any other problem.The Hazara nation lives peacefully with other nations in Baluchistan.

Question: What problem this killing has caused for the Hazara people?

Chairman HDP: Our children can’t go for routine activities like for educational institutions for sports activities ect.Same is the case with businessmen who are now afraid of doing business anywhere. The people can’t go outside easily and can’t attend religious places. Life is no more safe for the entire Hazara tribe in Quetta.

Question: What steps have so far being taken from government side or law enforcement agencies?

Chairman HDP: The government of Baluchistan is a failed government and has done nothing since its formulation rather the government has never taken this thing seriously. We are not satisfied with the over all performance of the Police in this respect. Last year we caught one such killer red handed and handed over to police who was later released by the police.

This is how Hazara Democratic Party Chairman saw the situation in Quetta and appealed to the high ups for immediate and concreted steps for stopping this killing.

The religious sectarianism in Quetta has risen with different intervals and has engulfed the peace of the city. During my stay in Quetta it was the common perception of the people in Quetta that it is a Shia-Sunni conflict where certain extremist element with in Sunni sect are involved in such killings and same is the case with the Shia sect in which also there are certain extremist elements present. Like some time Sunni religious Scholars have been targeted in Quetta upon different occasions that have deteriorated the situation more.

My perception of the situation is this that political parties cant solve or address this matter at any level until and unless the religious scholars and circles of both the sects do not come on a single agenda and publicly condemned such killings and formulate any strategy to solve this extremism which is making the human life difficult in Quetta.