Pakistan: 203 incidents of sectarian violence in 18 months

Daily Times

In the last 18 months, 203 incidents of sectarian violence in Pakistan resulted in 1,800 casualties, including 717 deaths, of which 635 were Shia. Sectarian and religious violence in Pakistan is on the rise, and between January 2012 and June 2013, the Shia community has been the worst victim of these incidents, disclosed a detailed Fact Sheet issued by US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Thursday. The fact sheet prepared under the Pakistan Religious Violence Project, an undertaking of the USCIRF, took into account publicly reported attacks against religious communities in Pakistan during the past 18 months. The report stated that while Shias are more at risk of becoming victims of suicide bombings and targeted shootings, the already poor religious freedom environment for Hindus, Christians, and Ahmadis continued to deteriorate, with a number violent incidents occurring against members of these communities. "The Shia bore the brunt of attacks from militants and terrorist organisations, with some of the deadliest attacks occurring during holy months and pilgrimages," said the report. The report said that the information used in the fact sheet was acquired from newspaper reports and news articles available in the public domain. "The Project seeks to be inclusive, tracking all reported incidents involving physical attacks targeting a member of a religious community or a major religious gathering place (temples, churches, shrines, or mosques). However, it is not exhaustive and some acts of violence are certain to have been overlooked. While each incident has not been independently verified, it is based on the newspaper stories and articles," the fact sheet made it clear. Since January 2012, the Shia community was attacked 77 times, killing 635 members and injuring 834. They also suffered 18 incidents of bomb blasts and 46 times witnessed targeted shootings. Christians, the second biggest religious community of Pakistan, were attacked 37 times in which 11 Christians were killed and 36 injured. They were also attacked in targeted shootings that claimed 3 lives, while 5 Christian girls were also raped. Ahmadis witnessed 54 attacks including 1 bomb blast and 26 incidents of targeted shootings in which 22 Ahmadis were killed and 39 injured. In terms of rape victims, Pakistani Hindus are the worst victims as per the report. In 18 months around 7 incidents were reported in which Hindu girls were raped. Not this alone, but 2 Hindus died and 4 were injured in 16 attacks. Besides that 3 Hindus were killed in targeted shootings, the report went on to add. The Pakistani Sikhs, a minority within a minority, was attacked 3 times in which one was killed. Some other groups of different minorities were also attacked 16 times, in which 46 people died and 195 people were injured. The Project's findings paint a grim and challenging picture for the new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. "It was positive that the Prime Minister raised concerns about religious minorities during his maiden speech before the National Assembly, as well as travelled to Quetta after a recent bombing targeting Shia and tasked his government to act. However, concrete, resolute action is needed to ensure that perpetrators of violence are arrested, prosecuted and jailed. To stem the rising tide of violent religious extremism, groups and individuals responsible for attacks on religious communities must be punished," stated the report. In addition, while banned militant groups and private citizens are responsible for the majority of attacks on religious communities, government actors are not blameless - police officers have turned a blind eye to mob attacks or have refused to file police reports when victims are religious minorities, the report further stated. "The climate of impunity threatening all Pakistanis, regardless of their faith, also is exacerbated by the much abused blasphemy and anti-Ahmadi laws," stated the report of the project.