Pakistan: Spreading sectarian violence

Pakistan seems to be facing a resurgence of sectarian violence, which seems in no way ready to abate. After the alarming situation in Rawalpindi in which a bloody clash between Sunni students from a seminary and Shia participants of an Ashura procession resulted in a curfew being imposed in the city, the rage and terror has spread to other parts of the country. We are now hearing reports of sectarian clashes occurring in the Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where firing in front of an imambargah resulted in the death of two people, a policeman being one of them. A curfew has also been imposed in Kohat because of protest demonstrations taken out against the violence in Rawalpindi. The situation in nearby Hangu district was also tense and called for a temporary curfew. The ongoing conditions tell only one truth: Pakistan is a powder keg and the slightest spark can set it off.

The whole country was breathing a sigh of relief this Moharram because the sensitive religious event went by without too much incident. However, on the 10th of Moharram things got out of hand when provocations by Sunnis during a Friday khutba (sermon) provoked Shia mourners to attack, which resulted in the whole of Rawalpindi coming to a halt, with the army called in to handle the situation. The reaction has spread, even reaching Multan where as many as 40 people have been injured in clashes between Sunnis and Shias. What happened in Rawalpindi has sent almost all of the country into the downward spiral that is sectarian strife, an issue so volatile that once it is provoked, it only gets worse. It seems that Sunnis are now retaliating after the deaths in Rawalpindi, and the Shia minority is not taking things lying down anymore. History has proved that the Shias have had to deal with much brutality in Pakistan, particularly of late. Wherever there has been a concentration of the Shia population in the country, e.g. the Shia Hazara community in Quetta, it has been targeted so extensively that it would not be far-fetched to call the attacks against them a slow but sure genocide. Shias have usually been on the receiving end of fundamentalist ire, faring only slightly better than the officially declared ‘non-Muslim’ Ahmedi sect. Comprising 20 percent of the population, the Shias have felt their anger boiling and frustration mounting at the injustices against them and the state’s inability to do anything to protect them. While the violence that was unleashed in Rawalpindi cannot be condoned, it is understandable why the Shia mourners reacted the way they did, after decades of murder and abuse.

That is the enemy we are facing today — the strife and bloodshed that accompanies religious extremism. Jihadi terrorism and deep-rooted fundamentalism have given birth to a fratricidal conflict. We are suffering from failure of the state and successive governments in curbing this religious hatred and not allowing it to flourish and become such a nuisance and threat. It is impossible to blame any side in this sectarian game of action and reaction but the focus now must be on preventing any full-scale sectarian mishap. The Punjab government has taken an excellent initiative in which it has urged the ulema (religious scholars) from both sides to come together; this step should be replicated across the country, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province that is mired in a view of religion coloured by tribal culture. A dialogue process must begin to bring all communities together so as to ensure that ancient chasms do not swallow up the country whole.