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An Idle brain is the devil's workshop by A.R. Changezi / July 15, 2012
(A rebuttal to the racist views of Hazaras by Surat Khan Marri)
Note to the readers: Article by A.R.Changezi originally published by HDP
Peace is not only an interval between two wars; it is, beyond any doubt, an assurance of complete harmony and state of nonviolent co-existence amid human beings and all living organism. Restoration of peaceful environment, therefore, becomes everybody’s responsibility in today’s civilized world. Any source either individual or group should be stumbled upon who intentionally tries to widen gaps between peace lovers, while compromising professional ethics anywhere, everywhere anytime. Biasness of publisher will be judged upon finding adequate space for publication of this article in order to avoid repercussions of such misleading information about a peculiar community (Hazaras) that the columnist targeted on 23rd of June 2012. Pasting and sharing it through social network of media can always be an easy option as accessibility to information is everybody’s right as electronic convenience lies within approach of all net users in the country and abroad.
Mr. Surat Khan Mari a so-called freelance columnist is one of those who unbelievably, become useful, after his retirement, for one of the leading and well reputed English newspaper “Daily time” to get his controversial column published. Considering the said column as frustration of columnist, one correctly can articulate that” an empty vessel sounds a lot”. Hazara community has the right to file a case against the columnist and his column in the supreme court for violation of their right, humiliation and disgrace.
Today, and even for almost past one decade, polittical instability combined with violent peace situation has reached to an alarming level in Balochistan, particularly in Quetta due to target killings, pogrom of innocent Hazaras, disappearances of political persons, suicidal attack of religious extremists and other criminal acts of kidnapping for ransom as a result of poor and bad governance of ruling Pakistan People’s Party PPP headed by an incompetent Chief Minister, the well known Mr. Aslam Raisani and his team.
Hundreds of people particularly Hazaras were massacred, thousand others got serious injuries, dozens of Balochis are either missing or their dead bodies are found having received serious torture and thousands more are displaced. In such a situation, such a column as of Surat Khan Mari further deteriorates the already tense and complicating situation and increase confusion among inhabitants of the province and between ethnic communities, while threatening social harmony that existed for decades among Hazaras, Baloch, Pashtoon and other communities dwelling Quetta and other parts of the province.
Today, the volatile situation has reached to an extreme level that even sports teams from outside the Province do not take risk to come to Quetta, resultantly, events of provincial games get procrastinated.
All political parties including Hazara Democratic Party HDP are making strife for restoration of serenity and peaceful settlement of Balochistan issues. However, one can doubt, and must doubt, that people like Surat Khan Mari works for accomplishment of foreign interventions, destruction of future of young Baloch boys and girls and exacerbating the backwardness of the province without noticing complexities of the situation and bothering for its aftermath. A young educated Baloch can ask him for his misdeeds.
Regular readers of daily Jhang Quetta hopefully might not yet forgotten Mr. Subedar Menavi, who was considered a popular contributor due to his humorous news statements. This was he whom employees of daily Jhang used to call to issue statements in order to make the political situation funny even when it was fragile altogether. Mr. Menavi never talked about existing socio-economic and political situation of the province, but lived always in fantasies. Good to hear that Mr. Subedar Menavi was replaced by Surat Khan Mari as far as his column is concerned otherwise except having among them common the term retired government official, nothing else ever remained recognizable between them either their mindset or so-called political approach
For information of general masses, especially those who are regular readers of daily “the news” Hazaras have been living in Balochistan since centuries. The columnist must deeply read history of the region that Hazaras did not came here as slaves. The columnist must read history of Arghun Hazaras of 15h and 16th centuries, that tells him that we were taken here as slaves, but we entered as conquers . To summarize, today their population is more than a half million in Quetta only, which was mistakenly quoted to be in Afghanistan. For information of everybody, United Nation UN and European Union EU declared population of Hazaras to be more than 22% of the total populace of Afghanistan. The factual figure is further reflecting in their national assembly, where 62 seats are embodied by Hazaras in the house of elected members of 240. In Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, out of 36 elected members 12 are Hazaras. Representation of Hazaras in national assembly of Afghanistan is plenty enough for them to be claiming to be the second largest ethnic community of Afghanistan.
Readers of the daily “the news” also need to be unassumingly informed that Mr. Surat Khan Mari’s column is full of controversies that consists of misleading and deceptive information, which adds fuel into fire among Baloch community while facing challenges and defending its beauty of liberalism and heterogeneity as one peculiar social fabric. One can doubt liberalism of Baloch society when so-called columnist claims that most of the religious extremists of Lashkar e Jhangvi” belong to Baloch community. The writer, no doubt, is ill-informed, biased and seems to be a paid agent of vested interest groups who never misses any chance to tantalize the deteriorating situation of the Province.
Unfortunately, extra judicial killings and mass-murder of Hazaras had never attracted and taken attention of columnist and so-called human rights activists, but killing of few innocent clergies and religious leaders of Sunni sect of Islam forced him to be putting its culpability/ blame/ allegation into account of Hazaras without any authentic source.
Deprivation, in Balochistan is a common phenomenon among masses irrespective of their ethic belonging of caste and creed either they are Hazaras, Baloch or any other ethnic community. No one ever seemed satisfied with the existing mechanism of governance and distribution of resources. Merit is always compromised at the cast of inefficiency and ineffectiveness that rules the entire province and country. The hue and cry made by one nationalist Pashtoon political party is an evidence of the fact in today’s gloomy situation of the province.
Hazara community in general appear to be peaceful, tolerant and believers of co-existence, however considering them to be involved in target killing of Sunni Clergies seems to be another effort of establishment for increasing intensity of hatred between the two sects of Islam and jeopardizing social harmony that existed among masses in the province. Hazaras through their democratic interventions all over the world has proven themselves to be peaceful citizens, civilized and lovers of coexistence. Any intervention of foreign forces including Iranian regime among Quetta based Hazaras is totally wrong. This is few rituals that seem common among all Shias including Hazaras to visit Iran as pilgrimage to the “tomb of Imam Raza” and few other pious places according to their faith and belief.
Isn’t it funny, that thousands of Muslims every year go to Saudi Arabia as pilgrimage to Kaba and Madina for becoming Haji, few other goes to Karbala (IRAQ) to become Karbalai, while thousands other who do not bear the expenses of Hajj or Karbala do visit Iran (tomb of Imam Raza) to become Zawar like thousands Sunni believers visits Data Darbar in Lahore or tomb of Ghaus-al-Azam in Baghdad(Iraq), Ajmir Sharif in India, where sitting president of Pakistan Mr. Asif Zardari visited few months back without getting any defamation.
Lastly, like every profession, mass communication must have some para meters (code of ethics) in general and authoring and publishing column in particular to be followed. Biased and misleading columns should not be published altogether. Increasing readership at the cost of humiliation can always be questioned.
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