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January 1, 2006

Pakistan: Muslim Leaders Arrested In Region of Sectarian Feud

Gilgit lies in the Northern Areas region of Pakistan, situated in a valley which was formerly a part the Silk Route. It is a centre for smuggled goods from China and Afghanistan. It is popular with backpackers, and is situated in stunning mountainous scenery.

However, things in the region are far from peaceful. The population in the region is 60% Shia, a high concentration compared to Pakistan's usual 20% Shia and 80% Sunni balance. Sectarianism is rife in the region.

An ongoing issue for at least five years has been the phrasing of school textbooks, which take for granted a Sunni context. In June 2004, protests about the schoolbook issue led to clashes between security forces and demonstrators, which led to one man being killed.

The sectarian violence erupted on January 8, when 17 people were killed, including six members of one family, after a Shia leader, Agha Ziauddin (also called Maulana Ziauddin Rizvi), was attacked and wounded by gunmen. His two bodyguards were killed, and a mob burned government and private buildings. The deaths inspired protests.

We reported on October 16, of twelve people who were killed in a renewed bout of sectarian Muslim violence which involved 600 people at one stage. Four security officers and eight civilians died. Curfews were installed and four Shia clerics and four Sunni clerics were remanded in custody in an attempt to quell the volatility in the region.

On December 7, an editorial in the Daily Times reported that intelligence agents had discovered that groups Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba were planning to use suicide-bombs to target Shia members of the Northern Areas legislative council.

On December 5, a Sunni cleric had been killed in Karachi, to avenge a Sunni cleric killed in Balochistan in the southwest of Pakistan. The sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims has claimed 4,000 lives in Pakistan over the past decade.

In 2005, the Pakistan government installed a near-fanatical Sunni to the post of chief commissioner in Gilgit, which created resentments. Mistrust of government and its more extreme Sunni envoys goes back to 1988, when General Zia allowed members of Sipah-e-Sahaba to attack Gilgit. In 1999, when the Sunni Islamist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, who are virulently anti-Shia, were employed by the army in tandem with troops in the Kargil War, which again led to victimisation of Shia in the region. The Daily Times editorial states:

To get a perspective on how the Gilgit unrest affects the rest of the country, let us go over this year's toll of terrorist casualties. On January 8, Shia leader Agha Ziauddin Rizvi was killed in Gilgit. On January 31, a leader of Sipah Sahaba Maulana Haroon ul Qasimi was killed in Karachi. On March 23, former Northern Areas IG Sakhiullah Tareen, a Sunni hardliner, was ambushed and killed in the Northern Areas. On April 1, Allama Najafi, head of a major Shia seminary in Lahore, was murdered. On May 27, a suicide bombing killed 20 at the Barri Imam shrine near Islamabad. On May 30, the Shia seminary Jaamiat ul Ulum in Karachi was attacked by a suicide-bomber. On June 24, Mufti Rehman and Maulana Irshad, leaders of the Deoband-Sunni headquarters, Banuri Mosque in Karachi, were target-killed. The government should not wait helplessly for what the suicide-bombers of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba have in store for the nation in the coming days.

These two groups have featured in the news recently, with Sipah-e-Sahaba rumoured to have attempted to establish a bolthole in Japan, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi threatening Christians in Sangla Hill.

Today's Dawn reports that on Friday a religious leader was arrested at a gathering in Jalalabad, 17miles to the east, down the Gilgit river.

Police claim that Shaikh Ghulam Mohiyuddin was apprehended for breaching the peace. Hundreds of his followers witnessed his arrest. Earlier, another religious leader, Shaikh Nasir Hussain Zamani, had also been arrested on the same charge.

The two leaders had been warned about not having sectarian gatherings, but had ignored the requests, official sources claimed. The Imamia Council of Gilgit said the police move was to sabotage peace talks currently underway to reduce sectarian tensions. It is assumed that the two leaders are Shia, as the Imamia Council is a Shia organisation.

Other areas with Shia/Sunni sectarian tension include Hangu in Sarhad province and Multan. In 2004, at least 100 died in Sunni/Shia conflicts in Pakistan.

Keywords: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Lashkar-i Jhangvi

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 1, 2006 8:47 PM

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