Daily Times

The tragic massacre of Sunnis by Shia militiamen in Diyala, eastern Iraq on Friday can derail the ongoing move of forming an inclusive government under one political leadership, which is meant to curtail and crush the barbaric movement of the Islamic State (IS). Apparently, the attack came as a reprisal for an earlier incident in the area that resulted in the deaths of three Shia militiamen. The Shia militia’s riposte against innocent Sunnis at prayer in a mosque claimed as many as 70 lives, including women. The attack has directly affected the formation of a cabinet under Haider al-Abadi, who wants to establish a broad-based government to address the grievances of the already alienated Sunni and Kurdish minorities. Two influential Sunni politicians, in protest at these killings, have declined to be part of any talks. It was after much effort that the Sunni tribes decided to stand with Iraqi troops and together fight against IS. Such incidents act as fuel to stoke religious and sectarian differences. The sectarian rift that had engulfed the entire country almost a decade ago should not be allowed to regain momentum after this attack.
The Iraqi Sunni tribes have never assisted any extremist Sunni movement to kill Shias, be it al Qaeda or IS, nor have they shown any sympathy toward such barbarians. If anything, they have been at the forefront to demolish such fanatical movements. George Bush Sr, when he attacked Iraq in 1991 to vacate the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, later encouraged the Shia clerics to stage an uprising against Saddam Hussein but were crushed when the US did not come to their aid. After invading Iraq in 2003, the US, after defeating Saddam, handed over power to a Shia regime that proved to have a sectarian agenda that completely sidelined the Sunni minority. The major cause of Iraq’s defeat by IS fighters in the north of the country is the deepened fragmented nature of the Iraqi army on sectarian lines. The disintegration of the Ba’athist state and army on a sectarian basis weakened Iraq. No doubt outgoing prime minister Nouri al-Maliki ran a partisan sectarian government. It is now time to undo all the mistakes committed in the past. The new government should bring the perpetrators of this brutality to justice. From all this chaos, Pakistan has a lesson to learn: where there is a sectarian divide, especially under the patronage of the state, it can only result in death and destruction. It is time for us to bring all religions and denominations together in common purpose and unity if Pakistan is to avoid Iraq’s tragic outcome. *