Slaughter Of the Hapless Hazara in Pakistan’s Balochistan
By S
M Hali
January 9,
2021
The New
Year, which was expected to usher in glad tidings in the wake of the challenges
of COVID-19 and the political impasse created by the opposition, instead,
revived the horrors of terrorism, supposedly on the decline. The horrendous
strike occurred in Pakistan’s soft underbelly, Balochistan and the victims are
the hapless Hazaras. According to reports, eleven coal miners were killed after
unidentified men kidnapped and were later slaughtered at the Mach coalfield of
Bolan district, around 80km away from Quetta in Balochistan on Sunday, January
3, 2021. Four other miners were seriously injured. According to officials, the
miners shared a residential room near the coal mine where they worked.
People mourn their relatives, who were coal miners from the minority
Shia Hazara community killed in an attack in Mach area of Bolan district, as
they protest demanding justice, in Quetta, January 4. — Reuters
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Islamic
State, also known as Da’ish, later claimed responsibility for the attack,
through its Amaq news agency via its Telegram communications channel. Security
officials have provided details of the gruesome mass assassination, informing
that the brutal assailants first separated the miners, tied their hands and feet,
took them out into the hills and later executed them using a sharp instrument,
beheading some. The ruthless act by itself bears the stamp of the Da’ish, who
had terrorized Syria and Iraq in the last decade, mostly targeting members of
the Shia community.
The group
has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations and is
known for its gruesome videos of beheadings and other types of vicious
executions of both soldiers and civilians, including journalists and aid
workers, and its destruction of cultural heritage sites. Da’ish committed
ethnic cleansing on a historic scale in northern Iraq and Syria but after being
defeated and routed from the Middle East, the cold-blooded killers have set
their eyes on the Khorasan region. The Wilayat Khorasan is a branch of the
Da’ish active in South and Central Asia, mainly in the border region of eastern
Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, but its area of operations also includes
other parts such as Tajikistan, and India where extremist individuals have pledged
allegiance to it. For Pakistan, the Da’ish announced the group’s formation in
January 2015 and appointed former Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant
Hafiz Saeed Khan as its leader, with former Afghan Taliban commander Abdul Rauf
Aliza as deputy leader. Aliza was killed in a U.S. drone strike in February
2015, while Khan was killed in a U.S. airstrike in July 2016.
The leader
of the Daesh-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Abdullah Orokzai, also known as Aslam
Farooqi, was captured in April 2020. This only goes to show that the group
continues to be active in Pakistan and is reportedly being used as a tool by
Pakistan’s detractors to wreak havoc.
Surprisingly,
Pakistan is wary of the machinations of the enemy. It has submitted dossiers to
the United Nations and heads of governments of western nations and influential
leaders to expose the odious agenda of the enemy against Kashmiris and
Pakistanis. Our leadership has taken cognizance of the Fifth Generation or
Hybrid Warfare waged by the enemy. Our security analysts do not tire from
discussing the heinous conspiracies being hatched against Pakistan and the
modus operandi adopted by its disparagers to destabilize it.
The exposé
by the EU DisinfoLab has also provided graphic details of the conspiracies
being hatched against Pakistan and China. It is now evident that the
disparagers who want to denigrate China’s mega Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
and its flagship project—the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—will go to
any length to place impediments in their path. The flurry of attacks in various
locations, especially on the security and law enforcing agencies in Balochistan
is a testament to the fact the enemy is getting desperate to disrupt the
projects, which once completed will usher prosperity in the region.
Targeting
the Hazara Community of Quetta is not a new ploy. In the past too Hazara
pilgrims returning from Iran have been deliberately targeted because firstly
they are a peace loving community, secondly they belong to the minority Shias
and the aim is to drive a wedge between them and the majority Sunnis.
It is
noteworthy that at the drop of a hat, Indian media, as if on cue, jumped on the
opportunity to rub salt in the wound. Coyly remaining oblivious to the
bloodbath being conducted against hapless Kashmiris in Indian Illegally
Occupied Kashmir (IIOK) and the persecution of Sikhs, Christians and even lower
caste Hindus the Dalit, Indian media started chastising Pakistan. The theme
being repeated non-stop was “Ethnic Hazaras have been long persecuted in
Pakistan for their faith, facing targeted attacks and large scale bombing that
has killed hundreds in the last two decades.”
It is true
that the Hazaras are grieving and protesting. Their demand is genuine that the
real perpetrators of the reprehensible slaughter of Mach coal miners be brought
to justice but it is the collective responsibility of every Pakistani and not
just the intelligence and law enforcing agencies but all opinion builders
including politicians to make a concerted effort to defeat the monstrous plot
of the enemy to destabilize us. We have to avoid point scoring and starting a
blame game but put our collective wisdom together to identify the hidden enemy
and defeat its noxious agenda otherwise more innocent blood will flow.
Original
Headline: The reprehensible slaughter of Mach coal miners
Source: The Daily Times, Pakistan
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-sectarianism/slaughter-hapless-hazara-pakistan’s-balochistan/d/124025
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