80 hours have past, from the earth jolting suicide attack on innocent and peaceful citizens of Quetta, capital city of Balochistan province of Pakistan. Yet no action is taken against the perpetrators of attack. Previous Thursday proved to be the deadliest day of violence in the history of Pakistan. In triple blasts, over 118 people belonging to Hazara Shia community met their ill-fate and over 200 were injured.
According to reports, a suicide bomber detonated the explosives inside a crowded snooker club on Alamdar Road, a Hazara-dominated neighborhood of Quetta. Few minutes later, another explosion went off outside the club as people, police, media persons and rescuers rushed to the site. The sources said the first blast was suicide and the second was planted. The outfit militant organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the blast and said their target was the Hazara community.
Hazaras of Quetta are passing through unending woes of mass massacre and butchery. Every day brings a tale of soreness; the members of community are gunned down fearlessly in the avenues of merciless city in cold blood. They are completely pushed out of socio-economic accomplishments. However, now the community has decided to answer the brutalities with their peaceful and determined protests.
“Thousands of protesters have been braving chilly weather in Quetta to protest over killings of Hazara Shias in twin suicide attacks on Alamdar road area of the city. In below-zero temperature, women and children spent Friday and Saturday nights to mourn the killings on the road, refusing to bury the bodies of the victims until the army takes control of the provincial capital,” Pakistani media reported.
The protesters have been criticizing the provincial government and are demanding the dismissal of the provincial government and are asking for Pak-Army to take over the provincial government and deploy the law and order in the province. As usual the banned extremist armed group of Jashkar-e-Jangavi has claimed the responsibilities of the attacks against the minority Hazara community.
It is not the first massive targeted attacks against Hazara minority which is being claimed by LeJ. It is for a decade that the community has been paying the price of sectarian targeted attacks carried out by Sunni militant groups such as LeJ and Sepahe-Sahaba who have got close link with Al-Qaida and Taliban. Since 1998, the community has lost over 1000 innocent lives, but unfortunately the state security authorities have not taken a single initiation of bringing the armed militants to the court of justice. There has not been a single considerable effort to arrest the assailants whose bases are as clear as crystal. A decade of misfortunes for Hazara minority in Baluchistan is turning to be over the tolerance, the protesters are committed to continue sit-in unless their demands are fulfilled.
Government, in order to convince the protesters to end up the protest and bury the victims of the incidents had sent senior government official representatives including Governor Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi and Federal Minister Syed Khursheed Shah to negotiate over the issue, but the protestors have rejected to negotiate and are insisting on their demand of dismissal of provincial government and its replacement with governor rule and Pak-Army’s takeover of the province’s security.
It is for a century that Hazara people have been living in Pakistan. They have dedicated holy services in different areas of civil services and armed forces. They are well-known for their hard work, dedication to education and civilization. They mainly inhabit in Quetta, the capital city of Baluchistan which is a multi-cultural city where many ethnic groups with different religious ideologies are living together.
There used to be no controversial issues and the civilians used to live in peace and friendly manners. But recently the image of city is being changed. Regardless of their dedication and sacrifices for advancement of the state in Pakistan, the community is being neglected over the past decade.
As a result of government’s ignorance of the community issues, thousands of the beloved members have been victimized by sectarian targeted killings. The community has been under massive targeted attacks during different occasions such as Aushura and other religious events. Year 2012 was recorded as the worst for Hazara community, but the January 10, 2013 was the worst day during the last ten years in which community lost over a 100 of its members within few minutes due to no reason other than being Shia Hazara.
It has been the third day of mourning and peaceful protest in Baluchistan and it is hoped the relevant Pakistani authorities take a practical action against the terrorists based in and around Quetta and assure justice to the effected people.