Pakistan Sunnis and Shias clash : ''Bhakkar clashes''

The clashes and killings between the supporters of the Sunni Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and the Shia Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWM), in the Bhakkar district on Friday, have led to a district-wide curfew being imposed and a temporary but uneasy calm. This is a troubling reminder of the sectarian riots that shook Punjab in the mid and late 1990s when Sunnis and Shias clashed frequently. This incident will have reverberations that threaten to bring back sectarian violence to Punjab. In recent years – and despite the fact that most anti-Shia militant groups were founded in and continue to operate out of Punjab – the province itself has not witnessed the same kind of violence as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. That could now change. Details of what happened at Bhakkar vary slightly. But it would appear the shootout between the two groups was triggered when a procession of the extremist Ahle Sunnat Wal-Jamaat – the name now adopted by the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan – was passing through a predominately Shia area on its way from Bhakkar to the town of Darya Khan. The ASWJ had called for a strike and processions to protest against the murder of one of its activists. One procession of armed activists took their protest to the Shia area of Kotla Jam. It has been reported the protesters were shot upon, leading to a return of fire. Six persons from either side died instantly, while five others died later in hospital. The Punjab government will have to be more pro-active if it is to prevent repeats of the Bhakkar clashes through the province. So far, the provincial government’s performance leaves a lot to be desired. Even though the violence in Kotla Jam continued for at least four hours and the Rangers were called in, they did not directly intervene to stop the violence. Instead, law-enforcement officials allowed the violence to play out and then imposed a curfew. What should also be considered at some length is why banned groups remain able to operate. Many, like the SSP, have simply altered their names and continued to function just as they did before. There is a feeling among both Muslim and non-Muslim minorities in the country that the police are not interested in intervening on their behalf. That fear will persist as long as militant groups are allowed to operate unimpeded. As long as the state is seen as a disinterested observer of sectarian crimes people will believe that fighting violence with further violence is their only option. Sectarian incidents then can lead – and have led – to enormous violence in our society and tear it further apart with the state no closer to curbing it than it was to preventing it from happening.