McGill Journal of Political Studies 2014 April, 2014 | Page 118

places81. One of the most consistent attacks
has been the targeting of buses carrying
Hazara pilgrims back from Iran into
Quetta, occurring despite the presence
of accompanying police security convoys
(who have also sustained casualties), and
sometimes within a few meters of FC
check-posts. These attacks have been
carried in January every year since 201182.
As these terrorist incidents demonstrate,
there has been a definite ‘ethnicisation’ of
the sectarian conflict in Balochistan, where
it almost exclusively targets Hazaras. While
the drivers for violence above are extremely
important in understanding the presence of
the LeJ in Balochistan, the region has some
context-specific drivers of sectarian violence
that need to be elucidated.
The Hazaras played an instrumental role
in the Northern Alliance of Afghanistan
in the 90s83. Thus, Hazaras came in
direct confrontation with the Afghani
Taliban, giving the war in Afghanistan the
added dimension of an ethno-sectarian
battleground.
The
Afghan-Hazaras
sustained significant casualties at the hands
of the Taliban, especially in the Afghan
city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where the latter
conducted a massacre against Hazara
residents84. The animosity that the Taliban
holds for the Hazaras has been especially
toxic insofar as the Hazaras have come to
be viewed by the Taliban as ISAF-allies. As
highlighted above, the Western forces are
the sworn enemies of the Taliban as part
of their anti-West agenda. This hatred of
Hazaras has spilled over into Balochistan
where there is not only an active presence
See for example, the timeline of Hazara killings
compiled by DAWN.comhttp://www.dawn.com/
news/777973/timeline-hazara-killings-in-balochistan/1
82
For these trends, visit the following pages: http://
www.samaa.tv/newsdetail.aspx?ID=36587&CID=1;
http://tribune.com.pk/story/400907/suicide-blast14-killed-in-attack-on-hazara-pilgrims/; http://www.
aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/01/pakistan-car-bombing-kills-shia-pilgrims-201411164239145555.html
83
Hashim “Hazaras Living Under Siege”
84
G Farr, “Hazara of Central Afghanistan,” 160
81

118 | McGill Journal of Political Studies 2014

of upper echelons of the Afghani Taliban,
but also Taliban-allied groups. Because of
their Mongol origin, Hazaras have distinct
features, and tend to live in close-knit
neighbourhoods (such as Hazara Town in
Quetta). This has made them particularly
vulnerable to sectarian terrorism perpetrated
by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, backed by the
Taliban.
Some Trends and Concluding Remarks
The presence of different types of
political violence in Balochistan has created
a really unspeakable mess in the region.
The trends that emerge from the above
analysis demonstrate that manipulation of
ethnic identities in the highly ethnically
fragmented and tribally organised region
is one of the main drivers of violence. The
Taliban depend upon ethnic and tribal
links to the Pashtuns, while the LeJ and the
Baloch Nationalists have started to utilise
a highly ‘ethnicised’ approach to wreaking
havoc – the former target the Hazara
Shias, while the Nationalist militant groups
have recently begun to target the ‘Settler’
community in the province.
But perhaps the most troubling trend
that can be discerned is the growing
evidence of the nexus between the three
movements. As discussed above, the LeJ
is a partner-organisation of the Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan. Moreover, the incidents
m [