The spate of sectarian violence, continuing in Balochistan for over a decade, has recently increased in frequency of attacks and their intensity. A most brutal example of this was seen on Tuesday, when unidentified gunmen intercepted a bus near Mastung, which was carrying Hazara Shia men to Iran on a pilgrimage. Operating in a most ruthless and calculated manner, the assailants told the pilgrims to disembark, identified them through their identity cards, segregated the Hazaras and mercilessly gunned them down.
The firing, which lasted anywhere between 5 to 10 minutes, resulted in the death of 26 people. The murderers, 8 to 10 in number, according to the eyewitness bus driver, then fled the scene in their two vehicles. As if this barbarism was not enough carnage for one day, three more people were shot dead as the ambulance was on its way to get the injured to a hospital in Quetta. The banned sectarian organisation with alleged links to the Taliban and al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, quickly claimed the responsibility of both attacks. The killings come only 20 days after 13 people were killed on Eid-ul-Fitr as a suicide bomber exploded himself outside a mosque in Quetta during Eid prayers.
This mindless sectarian violence has erupted at various times almost all over the country for over three decades. But in Balochistan, where religious intolerance had almost been unheard of in the last century, attacks against Hazaras have been going on since the last decade. Since then, targeted killings and bomb blasts have resulted in the death of more than 347 Shia Muslims. Last year was particularly deadly with over 100 deaths in various incidences of violence, including 61 killed in a bomb blast on September 3, 2010. The killers also aimed at high profile people of the community in their bid to spread fear. In June this year, Olympian boxer, Asian Games gold medallist, and deputy director of Pakistan Sports Board, Syed Abrar Hussain Shah was shot dead in Quetta.
It is a tragedy that the state has not been able to control the systematic brutal killings of Balochistan's Hazaras, a minority in numbers with roughly half a million residing there. The perpetrators, especially those linked with banned sectarian outfits, roam freely and are allowed to work on their heinous agendas by the virtue of the state's complicity through inaction. Although, police raids the same night have resulted in over 200 arrests, the effectiveness of the state's writ and its willingness to curb sectarian violence remains murky based on its past performance.
Usman Saifullah Kurd and Shafiqur Rind, both reported to head the Balochistan chapter of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, were arrested in 2006 and 2003 respectively. However, both managed to escape the Anti-Terrorism Force jail in 2008. Rind was re-arrested but Kurd is still at large. Similarly, the head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Malik Ishaq was recently released by the Supreme Court after 14 years in jail. The escape of LeJ's men and the allegations that Ishaq was able to plot various attacks on Shia Muslims while in jail are indicative of their influence and power. It has been alleged by many that Punjab's provincial law minister, Rana Sanaullah, has campaigned with people related to the Lashkar during the recent by-elections.
The Hazaras of Balochistan deserve, as equal citizens of this country, to live without fear of being singled out because of their religious beliefs. Yet this relatively new streak of religious intolerance spreading through the province is not limited to them alone. Recent report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Balochistan chapter, has discussed how the Hindu community of the province, having peacefully coexisted with the Baloch for centuries, is now being targeted for ransom.
Balochistan's Hazaras, and even some Hindus, have started migrating out of the province in search for security and peace of mind. Yet with LeJ's supposed growing influence, and the Hazaras distinctive Mongolian features, migration cannot be a solution to their problems. It is up to the state to demonstrate a zero tolerance policy towards violence, sectarian and otherwise, publicly clamping down on banned outfits which have now sprouted under the garb of charity with different names. This country stands for every sect and religion existing within its borders. The state owes it to the people to show these organisations that they will be brought to justice no matter how long it takes.
Published in Business Recorder (24 September 2011).
0 comments:
Post a Comment