In Quetta, Pakistan’s long-embattled Hazara community leads a life of defiance in the face of peril

By: Gul Yousufzai | All photographs by Akhtar Soomro for Reuters High walls around the neighbourhoods of Pakistan’s embattled Hazara community in the southwestern city of Quetta are designed to protect them from extremist militants, but also serve as a constant reminder of the threat they face. Soldiers and security checkpoints greet visitors to Hazara Town, one of two large guarded neighbourhoods in the capital of Baluchistan, a province where religious and sectarian groups often target the mostly Shia Hazaras with bombs and guns. Despite improved security in recent years, partly because most Hazaras have moved into the guarded enclaves, hardline Sunni militants keep up attacks, such as a blast in April that killed 24 people, among them eight Hazaras. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] “We are living under siege for more than 1-1/2 decades due to sectarian attacks,” said Sardar Sahil, a Hazara lawyer and rights activist. “Though all these check-posts were established for our security, we feel we were ourselves also cut off from other communities.” [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Sahil carries a pistol whenever he leaves home, and relies on his faith as a second layer of security. “I kiss my mother’s hand and she kisses me too and says goodbye with her prayers and good wishes,” Sahil told Reuters at his home. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Hazaras, said to be descendants of the Mongols who swept out of central Asia to rule the subcontinent for many centuries, are easily distinguishable in Pakistan by their facial features. That has made them vulnerable to attacks by groups such as Pakistan’s banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), and Sunni militant group Islamic State, which has attacked them in both Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, also home to many Hazaras. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Many community businesses that flourished in Quetta’s bustling wholesale markets have shuttered and relocated to Hazara Town or Mari Abad, another Hazara neighbourhood. But the community is defiant. Some still venture out into Quetta in search of work, while others keep businesses running. The Quetta community held its first Hazara Culture Day this week to celebrate and showcase its history, music and traditions. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] The community strives to keep its protests peaceful, despite unrest stirred up by militants looking to pit people of different sects against each other, said Abdul Khaliq Hazara, chairman of the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), which has two provincial assembly representatives. Domestic media often portray the Hazaras as targets of sectarian attacks or holding sit-ins to demand greater protection, but the community is developing and growing, said martial arts specialist Nargis Hazara. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] “Every one of us has a dream, a target and aim in our heart, to change the image of Hazaras in the world, and especially in Pakistan,” added the 20-year-old who last year became Pakistan’s first winner of an Asian Games medal in karate. Many Hazaras have joined the armed forces in Pakistan, where the community’s past and future will stay rooted despite any violence, said another martial arts expert, Mubarak Ali Shan. “We want to serve Pakistan and despite suffering tragedies and incidents, our love for peace has not diminished,” he added. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Photo captions (from top): [Bleed image] — A woman ascends a flight of stairs as she walks home on a hilltop in Mari Abad, Quetta, Pakistan. People from ethnic Hazara community play a game Sang Girag (stone throwing) near a graveyard in Mari Abad, Quetta, Pakistan. Sang Girag is a traditional Hazargi game played by young as well as elderly. There are two teams of five to six players and each of them has their own smooth and round boulders, the size of a cricket ball or a little bigger. Each player waits for their turn to aim and hurl them at a cylindrical target called qarqa which gets them a point. The team that reaches to secure 10 points first, is declared the winner. Sardar Sahil, 30-year-old Hazara lawyer and rights activist, kisses his mother’s hand before leaving for office, at the doorsteps of his home in Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan. A Hazara girl with traditional jewellery does embroidery at a cultural stall during the Hazara Culture Day at the Qayum Papa Stadium in Mari Abad, Quetta, Pakistan. A Hazara girl walks holding naans (breads) along a street in Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan. Mir Hussain Changazi (left) from Hazara community plays Hazargi instrument Damboora, as he sings traditional songs along with Fida Hussain playing the harmonium and Zia Noorband on the tabla, as they practice at Aahanga Musical Academy in Mari Abad, Quetta, Pakistan. Syed Raza Hazara, 18, backflips as he performs Parkour at the Qayum Papa Stadium in Mari Abad, Quetta, Pakistan. A Hazara man stands beside a poster depicting Jamkaran Mosque in Iran as he keeps an eye on his pair of caged chukars along a street in Mari Abad, Quetta, Pakistan.