One of the first things I do during my early morning routine is to scan Pakistani news websites.  This is not to check cricket scores or see the latest socio-political development in my country of origin – this is to see whether there are any more casualties of Shias and other victims of Takfiri Deobandi terrorists of Sipah Sahaba Taliban (SST). Sounds depressing, doesn’t it. You see, I have no choice. As a Shia Muslim, this is a constant feeling that pervades our day to day existence.

How are my Shia relatives and friends?

Is there any respite?

Is Mehzar Zehra, the 12 year-old Shia girl student who was shot last week still alive and if so, is she making any progress from her life-threatening wounds?

For a long time, we had to rely on twisted and distorted newspaper reports from Pakistan’s biased media. That has changed. With the emergence of Let Us Build Pakistan (LUBP www.lubpak.com) and Shia Killing (facebook), at least the news and analysis on Shia genocide reflects the reality of the situation.

In the not-too-distant past, whenever Shias were massacred in Pakistan, the issue would be misrepresented.  After 700 Shias were massacred by Pakistan Army backed Jihadist militants in Gilgit in the 1980s, it was presented as Sunni vs Shia “sectarian conflict”. The same tag is still being used by the vast majority of Pakistan’s dishonest media even as Shias are pulled off a bus in Chilas and massacred Nazi-style. Thankfully, after LUBP came on the scene, we are no longer subject to such rubbish and insensitive analysis.  This is the website that brought some much needed clarity to this burning issue.  Unlike Pakistan’s elite journalists and bloggers, this website (LUBP) defined the issue without ambiguity or bias.

Now more and more people are calling this a slow motion #ShiaGenocide – a terminology that has been pioneered by LUBP and its sister blog Pakistan Blogzine for at least  last 3 years. Now the victims are not being diluted and separated.  Thanks to LUBP, the world is getting to know that the same Yazid admiring Takfiri Deobandi terrorists who kill Shias also kill various Sunni sub-sects – like Barelvis, Non-Takfiri Deobandis and Ahmadis. These same terrorists also terrorize Christians and target secular parties in Pakistan (e.g., Awami National Party, Pakistan Peoples Party, MQM).

Now, the world knows that these terrorists are not some hidden conspiracy. They are Takfiri Deobandis who are sponsored and organized together by Pakistan army, in particular its spy agency, the ISI. These thug militias are named Taliban/Sipah Sahaba/Lashkar-e-Jhangvi/Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat/Jundullah. The world knows now that this group is the chief operating unit of Al Qaeda in Pakistan and is bursting with funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and other Gulf monarchies.

Using definitive terminology like “Takfiri Deobandi”, LUBP provided a framework that effectively debunked the misrepresentation of terming Shia genocide in vague and misleading terms such as “Sunni-Shia sectarian violence” or “Hazara specific ethnic violence”.  It clearly identified the killers in specific terms.  More importantly, this framework removes the misconception that this is a Sunni-Shia War. Instead it crystallises the fact the the overwhelming majority of Pakistanis, diverse in terms of religion and sect, are being held hostage by ISI-Saudi backed fascist militants and their apologists.

Previously, one or two confused clerics would try and make us believe that Shias are killed by foreign hands – a subtle tactic to shift the blame away from Pakistan Army, Supreme Court and Saudi Arabia.  These confused clerics seem to think they are part of some Politburo in Tehran power structure.  On the other hand, Pakistani community activists were either in denial or dishonest mode.  The dishonest people portray this as some grand “proxy war” between Saudi Arabia and Iran – a notion that was thoroughly debunked by LUBP in this article.

Ultimately, these community activists simply did not care about the genocide happening against Shias in Pakistan and whenever this issue comes up in social gatherings, they say the most insensitive and dishonest things and blame it all on some conspiracy – anything but the truth about Shia Genocide.  For them, all of Pakistan’s Shias, even their life long colleagues are reduced to Iranian spies or the Sahaba cursing people who somehow deserve their fate.  It does not matter if these community activists are conservative or self-described liberal-progressive.  When it comes to Shia Genocide, they are no different from Pakistan’s gutter media. Sad but true.

Previously, we used to look towards the liberals/ progressives/leftists to highlight the precarious plight of Pakistan’s Shia Muslims.  Barring the exception, this group failed utterly.  Here also LUBP opened our eyes that those who kept boasting their liberal credentials also united under the dubious Jinnah Institute to support the Taliban – at the expense of our US tax dollars!

Similarly the champion of Pakistan’s pseudo liberals and “anti-establishment” icon like Najam Sethi was providing special air time to  the Army-ISI backed Takfiri Deobandi militant chief, Ludhianvi, on his TV show on Geo TV network.  Just like his Friday Times employee, Ali Chishti did on another TV channel.

Thanks to LUBP team, we are very careful in evaluating the spin coming out from the Jinnah Institute, the Friday Times, Ejaz Haider, Najam Sethi, Hamid Mir etc.  Lobby efforts are under way to pull the plug on funding dubious NGO, think tanks associated with these characters.

Now, thanks to LUBP, those of us who care about this issue can present the carefully constructed database of Shia genocide in Pakistan since 1963.  There is the comprehensive Shia Genocide and Persecution tag on LUBP that has detailed articles on this issue which represent mostly original LUBP articles and studies. They also present the accumulation of other relevant articles on this topic by fellow Americans Dr. Taqi and Rusty Walker and Pakistnai writers such as Saroop Ijaz and Abbas Nasir, and the slight trickle of other articles that are finally using the frames of reference constructed by LUBP on the specific issue of Shia Genocide.

In the last couple of years, more and more people at my Imambargah in Queens, New York refer to LUBP and Shia Killing for their primary source of news and analysis on Shia Genocide in Pakistan. Slowly, the discourse in Pakistan’s media has seen some slight, miniscule change and this is only because LUBP has consistently exposed those who lie and misrepresent Shia Genocide in Pakistan’s media. As well as those who rely upon such dishonest primary sources.

My request to LUBP is to keep up the good work and provide support to Shia activists like they did when Shia Killing website was briefly banned. Do not listen to the naysayers and those who want to marginalize you or distort your work. They are irrelevant and limited to a handful of chattering class in drawing rooms.  Like myself, more and more people are reading your articles and studies and applying their own faculties to come to their conclusions instead of listening to those who hate you because you don’t compromise on the discourse of Shia genocide. The pro-Taliban lobby that wants to undermine you is losing its credibility and people have seen through their psuedo liberal camouflage.

Just days ago, there was a huge protest in New York City against Shia genocide. It was heartening to see that finally there is some clarity to this issue and my Sunni Muslim, Christian and Jewish friends also appreciate LUBP for its clarity and honesty. Now the world is finally opening their eyes and seeing that this is not a Sunni-Shia conflict – NO, it is a civilization struggle where humanity has to stand up to the Takfiri Deobandi terrorists who have no sympathy for anyone.

Keep up the struggle so that one day the world finally wakes up and confronts the twin menace of Strategic Depth by Pakistan Army and the funding they get from their handlers in Saudi Arabia.

The writer is a community activist in New York.

Video: Ahsura in New York

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