Former Pakistani hockey player Shahida Raza, who belonged to the persecuted Shia-Hazara community and died in a tragic migrant boat accident that claimed over 60 lives, had left Pakistan to be able to provide for her 3-year-old disabled son.
Hazaras are the most persecuted religious minority in Pakistan.
A National Commission for Human Rights report released in 2019 states at least 509 Hazaras have been murdered for their faith since 2013. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says that from 2009 to 2014, nearly 1,000 Hazaras died in sectarian violence. Thousands have been injured.
Pakistan has faced criticism from human rights activists for facilitating religious extremist elements and not taking enough measures to protect the country’s marginalised groups.
Shahida Raza was an athlete and sportsperson from Quetta. She played hockey for Pakistan Women’s Hockey Team. She was a four-time football player of the Pakistan Football Federation.
She died this week off the coast of Italy when the boat carrying her and scores of others sank. Migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Iran were on board.
According to Reuters, Raza left her house in Quetta, Balochistan, four months ago for neighbouring Iran and then Turkey, aiming to eventually reach Italy or Australia and seeking asylum there.
Raza was the sole breadwinner of the family and left the country with the intention of supporting her disabled son’s medical expenses.
She was left jobless amid the country’s financial crisis. Raza’s husband divorced her, citing his inability to live with a disabled child.
