Jan Achakzai

Hazaras is a small predominantly shia community in Quetta. Their numbers have been documented about 0.4 to 0.5. millions. But their ranks are swelling as more Afghan refugee Hazaras are joining them in Quetta. Refugee Hazaras are mostly being transported from across the border into Pakistan by the people's smugglers. Quetta is a melting pot of ethnic and sectarian communities leaving side by side in peace for decades, though. Yet today, Hazaras are targeted as Shias. And the main reason is: unfortunately, Quetta/Balochistan has been a battle ground for proxy wars particularly between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Sectarian outfits are not the Taliban but sponsored proxies. Iran has sectarian affinity with Hazaras. Tehran is being suspected of striving to affect demographic changes in Quetta, Ghazni and Kabul in Afghanistan, though Tehran denies these allegations. Hazaras are accused of split loyalties: having religious loyalty to Iran and ethnic loyalty to Afghanistan's centr...