Asef Ali Mohammad

Asef Ali Mohammad (b. 1985, Afghanistan) was educated in Pakistan before moving to Great Britain in 2001, where he is currently pursuing a Masters of Photography at Middlesex University in London. Mohammad’s work has been published in the BBC, Foto8 Magazine online, Newsweek, the Guardian, and Al Jazeera’s the Stream, The Sunday Times’ Spectrum online, New Internationalists Magazine and Daily Jang. His photographs have been exhibited at Impressions Gallery Bradford, Winchester Gallery and Somerset House in London. In 2012, Mohammed won the Sony World Photography Student Focus Award.

The Plight of the Hazara people of Pakistan

The Hazara people mainly live in Afghanistan where they make up to 18-20% of the overall population. It is estimated that approximately 500,000 of them also live with the majority Pashton and Baloch in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province in western Pakistan. They are a double minority, religiously Shia and ethnically Turku-Mongol who speak Dari and Farsi and over the years have faced hardship and brutal displacement.

Historically, a small number of Hazaras migrated to Quetta during the beginning of the last century, but it didn’t take very long for larger numbers of Hazara refugees to relocate or crossover to this town to escape the Soviet war and seek a better life outside war-torn Afghanistan. Quetta city hosts military bases for the Pakistani Armed Forces and about 200 miles southwest of the previously US-held Shamsi airfield. A 446 mile journey links Quetta to Gwardar. Gwadar is on the Arabian Sea coast connecting the country to the Middle East, South and Central Asia via the sea. The coast is considered to be an important trade and communication centre for Pakistan and its neighbouring countries (Afghanistan, Iran, China and India).

Being a minority with noticeable physical attributes, ethnic background, and religious affiliation, the tribe have been targeted since 2001. They have fallen victim to the terrorism, sectarian violence, and severe discrimination perpetrated by unknown militants with over 1556 victims killed and more than 3000 injured.