Sectarian Divide in Pakistan
By Samuel Baid
From the Karachi newspapers in the early 1970s, one gets an impression that there was harmony between Shias and Sunnis. To some extent, it was reflected in the matrimonial advertisements in the Urdu newspapers. Some of them said: “we are cultured people from UP (India). Gentlemen from Punjab and Kashmir should not bother to reply.” Such ads did not say Shias or Sunnis should not apply indicating that matrimonially, they were mutually acceptable.
And why not? Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a Sunni, married Nusrat, an Iranian Shia. He was made Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) and President of Pakistan after its breakup in December 1971. Later, on August 14, 1973, he became the country’s Prime Minister on the inauguration of the new constitution. But, Shias were not destined to live a peaceful life in Pakistan, which had been created by their fellow-Shia Mohammad Ali Jinnah and where they accounted, it is said, for about 30 percent of the population.
The 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran turned out to be the beginning of Shia’s nightmare in Pakistan. Gen Zia-ul-Haq, who had already completed about four years in usurped power after overthrowing Bhutto’s government in Pakistan in July 1975, did not like Ayatullah Khomeni. Khomeni looked askance at Zia’s Islamisation claims. His change in school text books and tax on agricultural income were rejected by Shias because they considered them against Shia’s teaching. They protested. Zia felt the Iran revolution had emboldened them.
Zia decided to tame them not by direct police action but by promoting Sunni hatred for them and the demand that Shias be thrown out from the pail of Islam as were Ahmadiyya’s by the Parliament in 1974.
There already existed Sunni Madarsas like Jamia Benuria in Karachi which preached against Shias. In addition, Shia helped in the establishment of notorious Lal Masjid in the heart of the national capital of Islamabad. This masjid believed in militant Sunni Islam and, therefore, was anti-Shia and home to Sunni terrorists.
At the same time (around 1986), Zia blessed the launching of Sipah-e-Sahaba, Pakistan (SSP). The SSP began a character assassination campaign, calling Shias immoral. This was a reference to the old Iranian practice to allow foreigners, who come to Iran for job, to have live-in relationship with local women and leave behind the woman and children while returning, with some money.
The SSP also campaigned for the ouster of Shias from Islam and killed them. It was considered the mother of all terrorist organization. But terrorists like Malik Ishaq accused the SSP of being not tough enough against Shia. Thus Lashkar-e-Jhangvi emerged vowing in 1946 to cleanse Pakistan of Shias. Ishaq was responsible for the death of hundreds of Shias, but courts could not punish him because witnesses did not turn up. He started genocide of Hazara Shias in Quetta (Baluchistan) with impunity. It was very easy to kill Hazara Shias because they are not fighting type; they are more interested in education and progress.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi gave birth to a more poisonous outfit, called Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Al Ahami. Thus, today Pakistan is bristling with terrorist groups who consider killing of fellow Muslims as a great service to Islam, thanks to Zia’s Islam.
Zia was irritated by Shia-majority Gilgit-Baltistan’s demand of civil rights and a constitutional identity. Zia gave them two replies:
- Increased the Army’s presence in the occupied territory and;
- Push armed Sunni hordes who destroyed local’s farms, shops and attacked Shias. Consequently, locals demand for civil right changed into Shia-Sunni riots in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Zia had a special grouse against Shias of North-West Frontier Province-NWFP- now, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). During, the Afghan war in the 1980s, a very large number of Shias were butchered in KPK. This news was suppressed because it clashed with America pro-war propaganda blitz. However, much later, some Urdu newspaper briefly reported this by writing that these Shias were accused of trying to stop Pakistani Mujahidin to go to Afghanistan to join American Jihad; Obviously, this killing of Shias were ordered by Zia.
Zia died in a plane crash in 1988. But it was no cause of relief to Shias. The SSP he had created led to other Shia killing organizations like Tehreek-i- Taliban, Pakistan (TTP) is also anti-Shia.
KPK’s Kurram district has been a Shia-Sunni battle ground for decades. The district is a war-like situation. Social media reports claim that Taliban fighters have crossed Pak-Afghan border to join Sunni tribes against Shias in Kurram. Pakistan has not been able to firstly fence the border and disputes, especially, after the merger of FATA with KPK in 2018, are responsible for 3,000 deaths in Shia-Sunni violence. Kurram Agency has already seen prolonged Shia-Sunni riots between 2007 and 2014 which claimed 5,000 lives.
Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinion of the author.