Pakistan: Creeping Shia genocide

The increasing murders of Shias in Karachi add sectarian violence to the already existing criminal and political violence spiralling out of control in that city. On Wednesday a 50-year-old Shia doctor was gunned down outside a hospital while three Shia seminary students were also killed and two injured by gunmen on a motorcycle, all in the Gulistan-e-Johar area. On Tuesday a Shia homeopath was killed, and yesterday a prominent lawyer was murdered. While Karachi remains torn by political and criminal turf wars, mostly for control of extortion revenues from businesses, sectarian strife adds its own grisly aspect to the carnage. Criminal and political turf wars are closely intertwined; police allege that their attempts to catch criminals are almost always thwarted by powerful politicians or officials demanding the release of the accused or that investigations be dropped. Things were bad enough when the police only had the.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to deal with. Now the multiplicity of political forces vying for control in the city and makes the police's task almost impossible. Given the broader context of sectarian and religious strife in the country, the murder of Shias amounts to a creeping genocide that has been ongoing for almost two decades. Karachi is home to numerous religious communities and sects, but many people from minority denominations are finding it impossible to live in the city any more because sectarian killers deliberately target them, as opposed to criminals and political thugs who can be paid off.

The bombing in Abbas Town in March 2013 that killed 50 and injured hundreds of people in a primarily Shia neighbourhood showed the extent to which Shias in the city are under threat and the hatred sectarian killers carry. Their goal is to eliminate a large minority population completely, since the Shia community is unlikely to give in to forced conversions and marriages the way many members of the Hindu and Christian communities are reportedly forced to do. Karachi suffers because minority communities have been a part of the economic and social fabric of the city for generations. Their increasing flight reduces Karachi's cosmopolitan outlook that is a magnet for investors, and also deprives the city of thriving business communities that have established economic benefits for the city. The Ahlesunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ) openly advocate the murder of Shias. Neither has been taken on by the government in their strongholds in Punjab. While Karachiites are used to criminals and have learnt to deal with them, sectarian killers cannot be bargained with. Political and criminal elements in Karachi will require a broad strategy to be dealt with. Sectarian killings are deeply tied to the country's other problems and must be dealt with urgently before Pakistan's commercial and financial hub is brought to its knees.