The Plight of Shia Hazaras in Balochistan, Pakistan: From Persecution to Resilience

Abstract

The Shia Hazara Community in Pakistan has faced prolonged violence, torture, discrimination, and harassment, which peaked notably from 1999 to 2015. Today, though the frequency of violent incidents has decreased, the Shia Hazara community continues to endure persistent threats, discrimination, and harassment, including sporadic targeted killings. This survey-based investigation draws upon 117 Hazara community members residing in two central localities (Hazara Town and Mariabad) of Quetta, Balochistan, to understand socio-economic discrimination and pervasive insecurity, the intricate interplay of ethnicity and religion, and additional influential factors that contribute to sustained persecution. In this investigation, besides descriptive statistics and visualization, authors utilize robust statistical techniques encompassing Chi-Squared tests for independence, testing independence for ordinal variables, counts, and rates. This study unearths compelling evidence revealing the profound extent of discrimination endured by the Hazara community in the public domain and the tenacious resistance strategies they harness to combat their subjugation.