Four days on, 87 Hazaras finally find resting place

Community vows to continue struggle; 17 bodies still to be claimed.

QUETTA:

The bodies of 87 slain Hazaras, which had been accompanied by thousands of mourners from the Shia Hazara community on Alamdar Road for a full four days, were finally laid to rest on Monday.

Some 17 bodies, unidentifiable due to the impact of the blast, wait for their families to recognise and bury them.

The Hazara Town graveyard, Barory, and Ganje Shuhada graveyard, Alamdar Road, received the victims of the January 10 bomb blasts that claimed more than a 100 lives, only after the community’s elders announced that the protest was officially over. Their decision followed Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s announcement that some of the community’s demands would be met, including the dismissal of the provincial assembly and the imposition of governor rule.

The struggle for the community, however, is far from over – this may very well just be the beginning.

“We trust the decision of the elders of our tribe. However, we are wary of trusting the government’s promises. It may be just a pacifier … We have some degree of satisfaction over governor rule in the province, and (the fact that) false cases against our Hazara brothers in police stations and courts (are) being withdrawn, along with release of those Hazaras who are in prisons,” said a Hazara community member who returned home for the first time since the blast, while talking to The Express Tribune. Yet, he shared, his community was not happy with how “giving more power to Frontier Corps (FC) is being dealt with. It reeks of deception. Only time will tell”.

Another member of the community pointed out that most who had lost their lives on that fateful day were young boys volunteering to save those who were injured in the initial explosion. “The first blast had fewer casualties. That was actually bait to draw as many men as possible to the site, so that a maximum number of men lose their lives in the attack,” he said.

The man told about how he lost his 23-year-old cousin who was about to get married soon. “He called us after the second blast saying ‘I have lost one arm and one leg, and I am bleeding too much. Come soon. There are others here who are in worse condition than me’. By the time we covered the 45 minute distance from Barory to Alamdar road, he was gone. We have been through hell. We are still living it.”

Sitting out in the freezing cold for days has left the Hazara community physically exhausted. There has been a spread of respiratory and chest infections, as well as joint aches and pains. Emotionally too, the deaths and protests have taken their toll. Yet, their resolve is unwavering.

“We are not going to give up the struggle. But from the government and the people of Pakistan, all we can request is, ‘bring the culprits to task’. You all know who they are. And if you cannot do that, at least stop supporting them,” said a female Hazara activist, adding that death does not scare her any more.

What has driven the besieged minority is a wave of support which brought several parts of the country to a standstill over the last few days, leaving a fearful government resorting to jamming mobile phone networks once again.

“It is heartening to see how people all over Pakistan and in fact all over the world have woken up to the cause of Hazaras. The turnout of women at the sit-in is no small feat, considering how protective and conservative Hazaras and generally the people of the province are when it comes to their women,” a Hazara activist said. The campaigner added, “It was excruciatingly painful to make our dead wait to be buried. But I think the sacrifice of those who died will not have gone in vain.”

A spokesperson on behalf of Shia Hazara activists gave this statement of gratitude: “To all our honourable brothers and sisters who joined hands with us in these painful moments – We are thankful to those mothers the world over who have trained their children to support the oppressed when in pain ...”

It went on to add: “We pray to Allah that you all never have to suffer how we have suffered. Rest assured, if ever a time comes when God forbid you all need support, the Shia Hazaras will be by your side, and will not hesitate from giving any sacrifice to safeguard you. May God be with you. From the Shia Hazara community.”

Demand for army

Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen Central Secretary Raja Nasir Abbas demanded of Balochistan Governor Zulfiqar Magsi to call in the army for security in Quetta.

FC and police personnel, along with volunteers of the Hazara Community, were on alert as the burials took place.

Later, addressing a joint press conference, Abbas along with leader of Yakjehti Council Qayyum Nazar Changezi and the head of the Hazara tribe Sardar Saadat Ali Hazara expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. At the same time, they demanded that Quetta be handed over to the army, since the FC had not proved effective in the past.

The speakers said they shared equally the grief of the journalists martyred in the bomb blast.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2013.