Thousands protest against killing of Hazara Shias in Pakistan

People protesting at Kargil against recent killings of Hazara Shias in Pakistan. -Excelsior/Basharat Ladakhi
People protesting at Kargil against recent killings of Hazara Shias in Pakistan. -Excelsior/Basharat Ladakhi

Excelsior Correspondent
KARGIL, Jan 8: Despite bone chilling temperature, thousands of people in Kargil protested against the recent massacre of 11 ethnic Hazara Shia community people, who were abducted and brutally killed in Machh area of Baluchistan in Pakistan.
The protest rally was held after the Friday prayers from Isna Ashriya Complex, under the leadership of Markazi Imam Jumma Wal Jamat Hojjatul Islam wal Muslameen Sheikh Hassan Waizi.
The protest rally, organized under the banner of Anjuman Jamiyat Ullama Isna Ashriya Kargil (AJUIAK) Ladakh, started from Isna Ashriya square and after passing through Khomeni Chowk, Lal Chowk, concluded at Isna Ashriya Squre.
People carrying black flags, placards and chanting slogans against the killings of minorities in Pakistan, marched in the Kargil market.
The protest was also addressed by Murtaza Khalili on behalf of the AJUIAK Ladakh, who said that such terrorist attacks on the Shia Hazara community, other religious and ethnic minority communities in Pakistan have become a new normal in Pakistan which needs to be condemned.
He said that AJUIAK Ladakh, on behalf of the people of Kargil, strongly deplores this genocide of the Shia Hazaras and also expresses its complete solidarity with the families of martyrs and also with the Hazara community at large even if they are thousands of miles away from them.
Khalili added that these terrorists have no relation with any sect of Islam and they are enemies of Islam, humanity and peace who are not only targeting Shia minorities in Pakistan but also targeting other minorities including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and even Sunnis.
Another speaker Sheikh Abdullah Jalili said that the ethnic Shia 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.
“Pakistan has became a den of terrorist in the world. After the cleansing of ISIS and Daish from Iraq and Syria, they have been settled in Pakistan and the proof of that is the recent killing of 11 Hazara Shia community people,” he said.
Imam Jumma Wal Jamait, Sheikh Hassan Waizi requested the Government of India to be the ambassador of the people of Kargil to register protest with the Government of Pakistan, which has failed to provide security to Shias and other minorities.
Meanwhile, there was another protest against this brutal killing in Pashkum, organized under the leadership of Imam Jumma Wal Jamait Larchey Masjid Pashkum Sheikh Ahmad Arman, in which hundreds of people from Pashkum and adjoining areas participated.