Sometimes it seems that we still live in a state of nature. Thomas Hobbes aptly said that in the state of nature, human life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” According to him, in the absence of political order and law, everyone would have unlimited natural freedoms, including the “right to all things”. Thus, the freedom to plunder, rape, and murder; there would be an endless “war of all against all”. He further believed that there is no room for morality, because in a state of nature there is no space for the unjust. Everything is somehow justifiable.
Men’s cruelty and nastiness reveal their wicked nature. The law and order still cannot bridle them. Just go through newspapers or listen to news, war, violence, bloodshed, rape, terror, etc. are the hackneyed terms. One is harassed for her gender, one is murdered for his/her ethnicity, and one is discriminated for his /her color or religious beliefs. In short, everyone suffers from human’s cruelties in some ways.
Nowadays, extremism and religious intolerance are at their peak across the Islamic world. Women are raped and others are beheaded for their creed under the aegis of Islam. The radicals’ anti-human practices in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Syria are a matter of great worry and shame. Their cruelties make them worse than fierce animals. Isn’t it “war of all against all”?
The recent gruesome incident in Quetta City of Pakistan will make one numb with shock and distress. A six-year-old girl, who was the daughter of a gardener working at an army facility, belonging to Hazara ethnicity was kidnapped and killed and dumped on a garbage heap near her house. According to Quetta Police Chief Razzaq Cheema, there were a lot of bruises on her body and marks of torture on the victim’s neck and face and the culprit had strangulated Saher Btool.
A six-year-old girl knows nothing about religion or race, but she, innocently, falls victim to the cruel who smolders with extremism and bias and feels no iota of humanity. This tragedy is deeply moving for one who feels only a small tinge of morality and conscience.
“Arrest the killers of my daughter. What was the sin of my daughter, why they killed her?” the victim’s grief-stricken mother said with tearful eyes, “Where is the government, what it has been doing…?”
Reports say that hundreds of Hazaras staged a protest against the murder outside the office of Balochistan’s police chief and staged a sit-in for around an hour, demanding the immediate arrests of the girl’s killers. About 500 protesters, including women and children, shouted slogans denouncing the killing of Hazaras in suicide and bomb attacks as well as individual assaults.
The incident was condemned heavily. “She is not Hazara girl… she is daughter of Pakistan and whoever has committed this crime should be awarded exemplary punishment,” MQM parliamentary leader in the upper house, Tahir Mashidi said. He feared the incident indicates that no one’s daughter remained safe in Pakistan. He demanded of the Balochistan government to immediately bring the culprit to book regardless of his political or religious association.
Awami National Party (ANP) also condemned the incident and termed such occurrences as part of former military dictator Zia-ul-Haq’s legacy. Senator Haji Adeel said that all banned sectarian outfits were active with different names and spreading hatred which ultimately leads to such incidents.
“This is most heinous crime and culprit should be publicly hanged,” the ANP parliamentary leader in Senate said. He urged upon all political parties in the country join hands against such crimes.
JUI-F leader strongly condemned the incident, saying if cases against such incidents were properly registered and culprits given punishment then no one would dare to commit such a crime in the future. He regretted that insecurity amongst people in Balochistan particularly and in the country in general was increasing by the day. Because, he added there was no justice in Pakistan and those who commit crimes roam freely.
Federal government spokesman and Minister for Information, Human Rights and Law Pervaiz Rashid strongly reacted to the incident, terming it barbaric. He said the murdered Hazara girl is our daughter. According to reports, federal government has contacted and directed Balochistan government to register a case against culprits and provide justice to the aggrieved family. “Those who commit such crimes are mentally sick, and do not qualify to be called Pakistani or Muslim,” he remarked. He said being in-charge of the human rights ministry, he has issued directives for a thorough investigation into the incident.
“It’s most unfortunate incident and there is high responsibility on government to protect the rights of all citizens regardless of their religious and ethnic background,” PPP parliamentary leader in Senate, Raza Rabbani said.
Mounting public pressure prompted the police to form a high level investigation team to probe into the murder. However, the Quetta Police Chief Cheema admits, “we are still clueless about the accused”.
Hazaras are mostly Shia Muslims and have borne the brunt of the wave of sectarian violence that has swept the province in recent years, mostly perpetrated by extremist groups. Sectarianism is a great challenge that Pakistan has been in the grip of for long. Hope this problem comes to an end so that all Pakistani citizens, especially the minority groups, breathe a sigh of relief and live peacefully.