Pakistan Hazara Shia community calls off hunger strike on Army Chief’s assurance

General Bajwa, while meeting with the community members, assured that those who have targeted the community will “suffer twice as much”.

The community, whose Central Asian features make them easy targets, has been targeted in a sustained campaign of murders and bombings since 2013.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) further quoted the Army Chief as saying that the state is responsible for the security of the citizens. Following the meeting, the Hazara community posted full trust in the Pakistan Army and pledged their support in defeating hostile agenda.

“We are Muslim first and then anything else. Every Pakistani irrespective of religion, sect, language or caste has to stay steadfast and united to defeat hostile forces trying to create divisions,” the Army Chief said during the meeting.

In a Facebook post, lawyer and activist Jalila Haider, leading the hunger strike, said the strike was called off on the request of the Army Chief and the interior minister after assurances that the community will be protected.

The Hazara community members staged demonstrations at three separate locations of the city, demanding protection from law enforcement agencies.

According to Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) 509 members of Hazara Shia community of Pakistan were killed and 627 injured in various incidents of terrorism in south western city of Quetta during the last five years.

However, the regional head of Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) places the figure much higher than what was being quoted by the NCHR.

Earlier, the Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) wrote a letter to General Bajwa, asking him to play his role for stopping the targeted killings of Shia Hazara community’s members in Balochistan.

The letter, sent by MWM general secretary Allama Nasir Abbas, said the organized sectarian cleansing of Hazara people was going on in Balochistan and there was a need to stop it without further delay.

Much of the recent spate of Hazara killings has been claimed by the Khorasan branch of Daesh a militant group whose members mostly include those who used to be part of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and other militant outfits.

The rise in attacks against the community has also forced the people to leave their hometown for a secure future. According to one estimate, more than 70,000 Hazaras have fled the country because the state has failed to protect their lives and property, two fundamental rights of people that state is obliged to uphold in any way.
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