Pakistan’s top judge calls Hazara killings ethnic cleansing

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): The killings of Hazara in southwestern Balochistan province amount to ethnic cleansing, says Pakistan’s top judge, who has taken suo motu action on the issue.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said during a hearing at the Supreme Court Registry in Quetta: “We find no word to condemn the incidents of Hazara killings.”

The court would issue orders to ensure the beleaguered community was provided ample protection, he said, heading a two-judge bench that took up the suo motu case.

The court sought a detailed report on the targeted killing of the Hazara people in 15 days. A committee would be constituted to look into the matter, the CJ said.

Advocate Iftikhar Ali, representing the minority community, said targeted killings had inflicted human and financial losses on the persecuted Hazaras, who faced systemic discrimination as were denied admission to educational institutions.

The Hazaras were being killed for the last 20 years but no one had been arrested in this regard, the lawyer claimed.

Justice Nisar asked Balochistan police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari if a report had been prepared on the issue. Ansari replied in the affirmative and submitted the report.

During the last six years, 399 Hazara people had been killed in various incidents of terrorism, the document said, adding the highest number of the slain people, 208, came in 2013.

The CJP said: “I met Hazara community people recently. They were so afraid that they would not even lodge complaints or a petition in the Supreme Court. On the other hand, killers of the community people are holding public rallies.”

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