Daily Times

The bombing on Shia pilgrims in Taftan, a district on the border with Iran, which claimed 30 lives, marks a deadly chapter in the militant mission against Shias. Hate speech is rife as is a countrywide pogrom against Shias. These signs of genocide cannot be and should not be ignored, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. In a similar fashion, the Christians, Ahmedis, Sufis and Hindus also attest to intimidation. Apparently, it is a minority issue but, in reality, these are attacks on the integrity of Pakistan. In the last 18 months, there were 359 terrorist attacks in the country against the community, hitting 2,054 people; 833 Shias were killed and 1,221 injured. Of these, 40 percent were gunned down, another 35 percent died in suicide attacks while 24 percent were killed in other bombings. On average, 43 Shias were slain every month — the figure stands high enough to amount to the definition of a ‘systematic genocide’.

The most volatile cities for the besieged community are Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar where attackers continue attacking Shia localities without any fear or challenge from the law enforcement agencies. The attacks were carried out with precise planning, as 87 percent of the total attacks were incidents of target killing. Of them, 70 percent were carried out in Karachi, killing 2,018. The victims included doctors, professors, educationists, engineers, etc. Though federal and provincial governments did launch a clean-up operation against the terrorists in these cities in September 2013, the staggering rate of Shia community members’ executions went on unimpeded. In the last quarter of the year, 43 Shias were killed and 51 injured in 37 attacks. Up to 356 attacks were carried out, killing 833 Shias and leaving 1,220 injured across Pakistan. Of them, 87 percent of the attacks were target-killing incidents, and nine percent suicide bombings and bomb blasts. Suicide bombings claimed 906 Shias, 45 percent of the total casualties, and up to 270 Shias died in 11 suicide bomb attacks. Three suicide bombings were carried out in Quetta killing 124 people, mainly from the Shia Hazara community. The main targets were Shia neighbourhoods Hazara Town and Alamdar Road.

The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the massacres in Quetta and in an open letter threatened to commit the cleansing of Shias from the Hazara clan in Balochistan through more deadly attacks. Fifty-eight Shias died in a suicide bombing in Parachinar, the second-worst area hit by the menace of suicide bombing. Up to 20 blasts using improvised devices, hand grenades and planted bombs were made during 18 months, killing 187 Shia people. Karachi was the most lawless city where militant groups carried out 10 bomb attacks. Quetta witnessed horrifying massacres as 112 Shia people were killed in bomb attacks and millions of rupees worth of property was destroyed.

Target killings took the majority of lives: 335 members of the Shia community, 40 percent of the total casualties, followed by 32 percent in suicide bombings and 24 percent in bomb attacks. A total of 305 targeted attacks were made against the Shia community. Karachi remained the most lawless city with 290 Shia deaths, followed by Quetta, Parachinar, Peshawar and Lahore. Other cities such as Hyderabad, Khairpur, Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Hangu and Khuzdar also suffered terrorism orchestrated by extremist militant groups killing hundreds of Shias. Up to 70 percent of target killing attacks were carried out in Karachi, the port city of Pakistan. Up to 218 Shias, including doctors, professors, educationalists and engineers were gunned down almost every day. Eleven Shias were assassinated in a month on average in the city. Federal and provincial governments launched a clean-up operation against the criminals in Karachi in September 2013 but Shias have still suffered 217 causalities since the commencement of the Karachi operation. Target killings have claimed 121 Shias since September 2013. Most victims were gunned down in Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Liaqatabad.

According to a rough estimate, nine Shias were assassinated in targeted shootings in Nazimabad, clearly implying that the security agencies pay no heed to protecting the Shia community and improving the law and order situation there, leave alone apprehending and jailing the target killers from militant organisations. The militants of terror outfits such as Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP), now known as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Jundullah, operating under the umbrella of al Qaeda and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), explicitly remained active despite being proscribed by the state. The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has shown inability to take action against these organisations despite these outfits claiming responsibility for massacres on a number of occasions.

A sense of insecurity has become the order of the day in the Shia community. The unchallenged killing of Shias provoked US senators to voice their concern in a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urging him to take action against militant groups and others orchestrating violence but the letter did not help improve the situation. The government implemented the controversial Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) of 2013 and promised to consider the sectarian violence a threat to internal security that would be dealt with under the PPO. Such promises were not been backed by action on the ground. The need of the hour is strictly enforcing the existing laws on banned organisations and apprehending, prosecuting and jailing the perpetrators of violence. Some measures needed include: making a national framework in line with international human rights to protect religious communities and minorities, full implementation of the framework by all national and provincial bodies, making laws suppressing the root causes, elements and organisations orchestrating violence against the Shia community and minorities, and enhancing the capacity of the legal system, including anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) and public prosecutors. High Courts and the Supreme Court (SC) should monitor ATCs to ensure transparency, impartiality and prompt disposal of cases to deter the culture of impunity to terror outfits, which threatens all Pakistanis.

The issue of Shia killings has been deliberately obfuscated by the mainstream media but it does not end here. One is shocked to see the amount of media coverage the leaders of SSP, a banned terrorist outfit that has been instrumental in the killing of Shias across Pakistan, get through various television outlets. Not only has this terrorist outfit been involved in Shia killings, it has also targeted Sunni Barelvis, Ahmedis, Christians and other communities in the country. On top of all this, there is no will to stop the onslaught. Scores of Shias have been killed in the recent past but the government of Pakistan has only responded with token condemnations and the policy of ‘living in denial’. Naked majoritarianism will eventually be the death knell for Pakistan’s diversity. To not immediately understand that Hazaras or Hindus, Shia or Kalash are part of a ‘social whole’ with as much right to existence as any perceived majority will spell doom for the nation. In such a situation, unless the balance between the means of violence is not recalibrated on an urgent basis, what we are witnessing is a prelude to coming federal and provincial withering. It would be tragic.

The writer is the Web Editor, Daily Times. He can be reached at shrnaqvi3@gmail.com and on twitter @Hassannaqvi5