Daily Times

In the wake of an act of terrorism in Quetta that killed more than 90 people belonging to the Hazara community (Shias) and the resultant pressure mounted on the federal government by the Hazara community and leaders of religious and political organisations, the provincial government has been dismissed and Governor’s rule imposed in the province. Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has done well by going to Quetta personally and responding to the demand for removal of the provincial government, which was imperative to console the bereaved families whose near and dear have fallen prey to the worst ever act of sectarian terrorism in the history of Pakistan. The entire nation shares the sorrow and grief of the Hazara community, which has been bearing the brunt of the burgeoning sectarianism.

Having said that, I honestly feel the removal of the provincial government, imposition of Governor’s rule or even handing over the control of Quetta to the army is not going to help in controlling the demon of sectarianism on a permanent basis. The presence of the army in the city might help in reducing the frequency of attacks but expecting it to eliminate the future prospects of such assaults will be expecting too much under the given circumstances. Tackling sectarianism or finding a quick fix solution to this debilitating phenomenon, presently, is beyond the capacity of the provincial government or even the federal government, in view of its inextricable connectivity to the situation in Afghanistan and the links of sectarian militant organisations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi with the Taliban. It is most unfortunate to note that our politicians and groups opposed to the government, instead of seeing the Quetta tragedy in its proper perspective, tried to gain political mileage against the government instead of coming out with a visionary strategy or expressing solidarity with the government in dealing with the threat.

Sectarianism, especially the conflict between the Sunni and Shia community in Pakistan — like the jihadi culture — is the gift of the Zia regime. It will perhaps be pertinent to reflect on the developments in this regard to understand the Quetta mayhem and the issue of sectarianism in its true perspective. Zia used the Afghan war as a prop to prolong his rule by presenting the conflict in Afghanistan as a holy war and supporting the US efforts to stop the Soviets in their tracks. It was done with generous assistance from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, who provided more than two billion dollars for training the Mujahideen coming from all over the world, including Pakistan. Internally, he tried to build his constituency among the Sunni population, which was 85 percent of the entire Muslim population in Pakistan, and generously extended financial support to madrassas that acted as a nursery for producing Mujahideen for the Afghan war. His tilt towards the Sunnis did not go down well with the Shia community who felt marginalised. His patronage of the Sunni leaders encouraged them to establish formal anti-Shia organisations. The first such entity, known as Sawad-e-Azam Ahle Sunnat (Greater Unity of Sunnis) was established by a Deobandi cleric, Maulana Saleem Ullah Khan, in 1980, which demanded declaring Pakistan a Sunni state and Shias as non-Muslims. Soon after the formation of this group, riots erupted in Karachi and the followers of Sawad-e-Azam attacked Shia neighbourhoods and their religious institutions. Later on, Sawad-e-Azam was instrumental in the emergence of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), which was formally launched in central Punjab by Haq Nawaz Jhangvi in 1985. Almost all the Sunni organizations, including the JUI, supported the SSP’s anti-Shia rhetoric. Ziaul Haq viewed the SSP as a check on the rise of Shia influence in Pakistan in the backdrop of the Iranian revolution and the declared intentions of the Iranian leadership to export this revolution to the Middle East and the region. The Iranians did try to enhance their influence in Pakistan by supporting the Imamia Students Organisation and other Shia organisations. The Saudis and the Gulf states, who felt threatened by the Iranian revolution, also extended help to Zia in checking the Shia growth. Zia’s bias against Shias also stemmed from their support to the PPP, whom he regarded as the number one enemy. Our ISI, which handled the jihadi operations in Afghanistan, established covert links with the SSP, whose cadres attended Afghan Mujahideen training camps and returned to kill Shia leaders within Pakistan. This generated a violent Shia backlash. They created Sipah-e-Mohammed Pakistan (SMP) to retaliate against the SSP attacks by killing its leaders and cadres and also orchestrating attacks on Deobandi mosques. The seeds of sectarianism sowed and nurtured by Zia blossomed into a large-scale conflagration between the two communities after his death. The political leadership did try to bring the SSP into the political system in exchange for renouncing sectarianism, but a section within the organisation bitterly opposed the move and responded by creating an uncompromising violent entity known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi under Riaz Basra in 1994, which consists mostly of Afghan jihad veterans having strong links with the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. It is significant to note that since the collapse of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Balochistan has become a major centre of anti-Shia militants. Their main targets are the anti-Taliban Shia Hazara community.

As is evident, the problem of sectarianism in Pakistan, especially Quetta, has both internal and external dimensions and cannot be resolved simply by dismissing the provincial government. The external factors are much stronger than the internal variables and once the conflict in Afghanistan is resolved amicably, one can hope to cope with the internal factors by evolving a coherent national strategy through the joint efforts of all the stakeholders. The government and the army are dealing with the issue of terrorism and religious extremis with full commitment and are also making relentless efforts to firm up an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned solution to the conflict, undeterred by the intractable complexities attached to it. Their efforts need the support of the entire nation. Pakistan is passing through a very critical phase of its history and the challenges confronting the country can only be tackled through impregnable national unity. Politicking can wait for better times. Those who are practising sectarianism and employing terrorism as a weapon to further their nefarious designs must also realise that their survival is linked to the stability and integrity of Pakistan. By practising sectarianism, they are harming the country and also bringing a bad name to the religion. Islam is a religion of peace that believes in amity among different communities, abhors coercion in religious matters, and enjoins its followers to respect the religious beliefs of each other.

The writer is a retired diplomat, a freelance columnist and a member of the visiting faculty of the Riphah Institute of Media Sciences, Riphah International University, Islamabad. He can be reached at ashpak10@gmail.com