By Scott Mansfield
Pakistani-Americans protested ethnic cleansing in front of the Pakistani consulate on East 65th Street on September 21st. There were several traffic horses sectioning off the protesters and police officers monitoring the event, which had been planned well ahead of time through the organization’s website the Voice of the Oppressed. They have organized several events in the U.S. trying to bring attention to the issue of what they call genocide in Pakistan. And they may well be correct in their nomenclature since the violence has been clearly targeting Shias in Pakistan with a recorded 1,000 deaths in 2011 and 135,000 overall.
When I spoke to one of the protesters he said they were simply “Pakistani-Americans who are protesting the violence against their families and fellow Shia.” These Shia in Pakistan are part of an ethnic group called Hazaras and are spread out between Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, most of who are Shiite and in Pakistan are most densely represented in the city of Quetta in the Balochistan province.
Militants Fighting Hazaras of Pakistan
The militants who have been targeting the Shia in Pakistan are part of local militant groups allied with the Taliban whose goal is to prevent a strong Shiite influence in the political and social affairs of Pakistan. The larger group as a whole is commonly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba and was once a legitimate political party in Pakistan but banned under President Musharraf in 2002 as a terrorist organization.
It has been suggested that envy of the prosperity of Hazara in Pakistan is a motive, as they have done well for themselves in business, education, and sports. The chief of the organization however has said that its mission is to prevent Shia influence and through that rout Iranian influence. This is because many of the Hazaras still find their religious center in Iran and make the pilgrimage there. Sipah-e-Sahaba has referred to the Hazara community as an Iranian proxy in Pakistan.
The attacks are indiscriminate. They target men, women, and children. They target working class and educated citizens alike and among the dead have been counted famous athletes, doctors, judges and lawyers. This lends to the idea of the attacks being a reactionary response to the Shia prosperity as their Sunni counterparts have historically not done as well in the region and their success could lead to greater political influence.
The organization that arranged the protest in N.Y.C. has called itself the Voice of the Oppressed, which staged protests in New York as well as Chicago. For more information on this organization you can visit:
https://shiakilling.weebly.com/
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