VIOLENCE AGAINST HAZARA IN PAKISTAN: HISTORICAL PERSECUTION, INTERNATIONAL IDENTITY, AND SOCIO-POLITICAL VULNERABILITIES

Abstract

The Hazara community, an ethnic group often marginalized and oppressed, has experienced ongoing violence and discrimination due to their unique physical features that distinguish them from the majority populations in Quetta and Pakistan. Over the past century, the Hazara people have endured severe persecution, particularly during the atrocities of the 1890s in Afghanistan and the Taliban's widespread violence in the 1990s. Recently, the Hazara community in Baluchistan, Pakistan, has been targeted by unidentified assailants, while local authorities have displayed incompetence, apathy, or possible collusion in these incidents. This article explores the Hazara community's struggle for the basic right to life, which has been systematically denied to them in Pakistan for the last twenty years. It underlines the terrible consequences of ongoing violence, which has resulted in a significant decline in the male population, with many men slain, others fleeing the nation, and many more suffering from psychiatric diseases, drug usage, and social isolation. Youth in the Hazara community are especially prone to economic difficulties and developing feelings of disappointment. Because of its Hazara and Shia identities, the minority is struggling with identity. Because the Hazara are a minority in Baluchistan, the rest of Pakistan is unaware of them, and the mainstream media ignores their persecutions and problems. Using identity politics as a theoretical lens, this study attempts to analyze the intersections of ethnicity, identity, and violence, providing light on the Hazara community's experiences.