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Quetta, the capital city of the most deprived and neglected province of Pakistan, has seen a host of different problems ever since 2006. With waves of nationalism and foreign terrorism, Balochistan has been bamboozled into hinderance by internal and external factors.
In the conservative mindsets and general approach, the Hazara women of Quetta have been breaking stereotypes for quite a while now. Once again, the Hazara community in Quetta has gone out of the box and come up with an endeavor that breaks all the laws of patriarchy.
Quetta’s Hazara Town, also referred to as Hazara Kirani, is home to thousands of people of the Shia-Hazara community. With dozens of attacks on the impoverished community in the last decade, the area has somewhat been secluded and cordoned off from the rest of the city.
Inside, women of Hazara Town have come up with an entrepreneurial approach, starting a restaurant ONLY for women, by women. The found herself is a social activist, Hamida Ali Hazara. The restaurant will not only be serving food but plans on becoming a community center for women to bring forth their problems to have sane and productive debates.
Women inside the restaurant can sit and have lunch or coffee in an air-conditioned environment, where they will be served by other women, not men. They can also bring along their children and make use of the restaurant as a daycare.
“Speaking about a cause is not enough. After some time of talking and advocating for Hazara women’s rights, I realized that I actually needed to do something to create a difference. That is when I opened the HurmattyNiswa Foundation,” Hamida Ali Hazara told Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune. “The idea behind this restaurant is to give a second home to women, where they can come and talk about their problems and find solutions.”
The first of its kind restaurant in Quetta is empowering Hazara women to break all stereotypes and take matters into their own hands. With the oppression on the Hazara Community, this step is one in the right direction, where the community stands up instead of falling back into the darkness that has been forced upon it for years.
