Sardar Nisar Ali Hazara

Nisar Ali Hazara belonged to a leading family of the Hazara community of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, and carried the title Sardar as a tribal elder. Community tributes described him as a nephew of General Muhammad Musa Khan, the Hazara officer who was commander in chief of the Pakistan Army from 1958 to 1966 and later governor of West Pakistan and of Balochistan, and said he followed in his uncle's footsteps in serving to the community. His younger brother, Sardar Saadat Ali Hazara, became a well known businessman and community leader. His date of birth and details of his education have not been widely published.

In the 1997 general election Nisar Ali Hazara contested constituency PB-2, Quetta, for the Balochistan Assembly as an independent candidate. He won with 8,829 votes, about 46.4 per cent of those cast, finishing 2,486 votes ahead of Malik Gul Zaman Kasi of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). Seventeen candidates stood.

He subsequently served in the provincial government as minister for education. On 5 October 1999, as he was leaving his office at the Quetta secretariat, two gunmen on foot shot him at point blank range. His driver and bodyguard were killed immediately, and he was badly wounded and, according to later accounts, left for dead, but he survived. The Hazara journalist and rights activist Muhammad Younas later wrote that it was the first attempt on the life of a prominent Hazara figure in Quetta, and the South Asia Terrorism Portal described it as the start of the second phase of violence against the Hazaras. Days later, his brother Saadat Ali began receiving threatening telephone calls. His time as an elected member ended when the assemblies were suspended after the military takeover of 12 October 1999.

In later years he remained a respected elder of the Hazara community. Tributes credited him with helping to resolve disputes, strengthening unity within the community, promoting harmony between Shia and Sunni Muslims and between Balochistan's different groups, and encouraging friendly relations between the Hazaras of Pakistan and those of neighbouring Afghanistan.

Nisar Ali Hazara was the elder brother of Sardar Saadat Ali Hazara. Few other details of his family life have been made public. Those who knew him described him as fearless, dignified and principled, a steady voice for his people in every difficult period.

Sardar Nisar Ali Hazara died in Quetta on 20 October 2026. His age and the cause of death were not given in published reports. His funeral prayers in Quetta were attended by a large number of people, including prominent Hazara community leaders and political figures.

The Governor of Balochistan, Jaffar Khan Mandokhail, expressed his grief and said that Nisar Ali's public service would always be remembered. Condolences also came from the Balochistan Shia Conference, the Anjuman Isna Ashari of Quetta and the Justice and Freedom Party of Afghanistan, among others. On 22 October 2026 the Balochistan Assembly, with Deputy Speaker Ghazala Gola in the chair, limited its sitting to a prayer and a condolence resolution moved by Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch. The resolution, adopted unanimously, said his death had deprived Balochistan of a hardworking and capable politician, and the rest of the day's agenda was deferred until 26 October.

Nisar Ali Hazara is remembered as a Hazara elder and provincial cabinet minister, and as a survivor of the 1999 attack that marked the opening of years of targeted violence against his community. To his supporters he was a mediator and elder whose loss, in the words of one tribute, left a gap that would not soon be filled.