Interviewer: Sheeba Naaz

Source: Tehelka

The Shias are facing a slow genocide in Pakistan. To be a part of the estimated 15-20 percent of the population of Pakistan made up by Shia Muslims is be mindful of this fact and also that whatever the foreign implications, it is the State and its jihadi proxies like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (JeM) that are responsible for this ongoing genocide.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the identity markers of Shias, such as names (Ali, Hussain, Fatima, Hasan, Reza, Abbas, etc), attendance at shrines and langars (communal meals freely distributed to commemorate the memory of the Karbala martyrs) and flagellation marks, are dangerous. While the Shias are the worst-hit community, the militants have not spared the others either, not even the majority Sunnis (both Barelvis and moderate Deobandis). Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs are also being killed by the same nexus of extremist Deobandi groups.

Groups like Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) are the parent organisations responsible for the genocide of Shias in Pakistan. It was formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba and is virtually indistinguishable from its militant wing, the LeJ. In effect, they are really one organisation that uses different names as a tactic to create confusion. They have been operationally linked with the Taliban and other groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammad even before 9/11.

All these groups share the same beliefs and ideology, and belong to the Deobandi school of thought. They have not spared even those Deobandi scholars who don’t agree with their violent tactics.

Prominent names of their Deobandi victims include the late Maulana Yousuf Binori and Maulana Hasan Jan — Deobandi scholars who disagreed with the use of violence. Shias are under constant threat in Pakistan and nothing concrete has been done to protect their lives ever since the State officially went against them in 1978.

Aside from massacres, these groups have systematically targeted Shia professionals. The latest such casualties were a highly qualified 45-year-old eye surgeon and his 11-year-old son who were shot dead in Lahore on 18 February. The situation has gone from bad to worse and now Shia bankers, lawyers, doctors, activists, leaders, government officials and judges are being killed every day. This clearly feels like the community is being pushed towards marginalisation and ghettoisation.

It is disappointing to see that educated people from urban areas have adopted some of the hateful views that are propagated by groups like the ASWJ. Due to massive funding, both locally and from some Gulf countries, and State support, these groups have seized control over scores of mosques all over Pakistan. One would have expected Pakistan’s educated, urban upper-middle classes to boldly confront this menace. Sadly, they have failed to do so and their sparse recent efforts are too little, too late.

Similarly, the civil society groups too have failed in this regard. Instead of researching this issue in depth and presenting the findings to the world, most of them have bought into the State-manufactured discourse. Activists are more concerned about maintaining good ties with certain elements. Rather than risk offending them by stating the truth, they are choosing the easy way out by regurgitating the State’s discourse.

The media has played an atrocious role, but surprisingly, the State channel PTV has been far better in this regard than the corporate/ private channels. The latter give disproportionate air time to extremists and conspiracy theory cranks. Even as extremist groups issue statements taking credit for their latest atrocities, the media continues to provide a discourse of denial and of blaming other countries instead of inviting secular and moderate individuals to put the focus on home-grown extremism. The list of suspects is long, but chief among those who promote this culture of denial are Ansar Abbasi, Hamid Mir, Javed Chaudhry and their favoured guests like Hamid Gul, Farid Paracha and Orya Maqbool Jan. Please refer to the Pakistan Media Watch website and find out more about Abbasi’s role when the horrific videos of the Taliban’s public lashing of a teenage girl were released.

Laws and legal institutions are quickly becoming irrelevant to the situation in Pakistan. The highly politicised Supreme Court relied on lapsed ordinances, which had been introduced by a military dictator, to recently dismiss an elected prime minister. The same court also released the most dangerous anti-Shia terrorist, Malik Ishaq, leader of the al-Qaeda affiliated LeJ and vice-president of the ASWJ, continue the killings. Despite eyewitness accounts, published hate material and the boastful confessions of LeJ, the Supreme Court still released Ishaq. The judiciary is more concerned with settling its political scores with the current elected government and is alleged to have “an ideological bias” in favour of extremists. Its record in the cases of Ishaq, the Lal Masjid vigilantes and Hafiz Saeed speaks volumes.

Nonetheless, Pakistan’s biased media continues to deflect criticism of this bias of the judiciary by blaming the prosecution. The media conveniently forgets to mention that the Supreme Court even overturned a guilty verdict against Ishaq.

The military had started creating the groups responsible for extremism even as early as 1985, when Gen Zia-ul-Haq intervened to protect the leader of these groups. In 1988, while Gen Zia was still alive, an anti-Shia pogrom in Gilgit (in PoK) had resulted in the killing of over 700 Shias. Contrary to the manufactured discourse of Pakistan’s pro-establishment media, groups like the Taliban and the ASWJ were linked well before 9/11 and the Taliban provided sanctuary to LeJ militants in Kabul as early as 2000. At that time, Pakistan was under the military dictatorship of Gen Pervez Musharraf and became the only country besides Saudi Arabia and the UAE to recognise the Taliban as rulers of Afghanistan.

The so-called secular parties like the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and, to an extent, the Awami National Party (ANP), have failed miserably in confronting the menace of anti-Shia extremists. The ruling alliance is seen as a weak government that is limping to the finishing line. Any credit for being the first elected government to complete its term is negated by the failure to confront extremism. The PPP and the ANP have also lost their frontline leaders like Benazir Bhutto, Bashir Bilour, Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti to the same menace. Many of their leaders have spoken out against this extremism, but they have repeatedly failed to press Parliament into action. Sheikh Waqas Akram of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) has also condemned extremism, but there seems to be a lack of will to do anything to stem the violence.

The PML-N is in an electoral coalition with the ASWJ and the Punjab law minister, who is also a cousin of Pakistan’s chief justice, has openly participated in rallies with ASWJ/LeJ leaders. Until recently, Imran Khan was known as an apologist for these groups. However, the person who manages his Twitter account has done a commendable job by condemning LeJ for the bomb blast in Quetta on 16 February, in which at least 84 people were killed. Let’s hope this marks a turning point where Imran Khan distances himself and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (an umbrella coalition of more than 40 quasi-political religious parties).

Unless the State and, in this case, the military establishment abandon their project of strategic depth in Afghanistan and their India-centred policies, there is no hope for the Shias or for the Sunnis, Ahmadis, Hindus, Christians and Sikhs of Pakistan. At the same time, we must applaud those Shias and Sunnis who have defied all kinds of threats and continue to strive together for a better Pakistan.

1) What is it to be a ‘Shia’ in Pakistan?

Shias are facing a “slow motion Genocide” in Pakistan.  To be a part of the 15-20% population of Pakistan that is estimated to be Shia muslim is be mindful of this fact and be mindful of the fact that whatever the foreign implications, it is the State and its Jihadi proxies like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that are responsible for this ongoing Shia Genocide in Pakistan.  While Shias are the worst hit community in Pakistan, others have not been spared either.

In Pakistan, along with Shias, even the majority Sunnis (both Barelvis and moderate Deobandis) have not been spared by the same militias.  Similarly, Ahmadis, Christains, Hindus and Sikhs are also being killed by the same nexus of extremist Deobandi groups.

Groups like Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) are the parent organization responsible for Shia Genocide in Pakistan.  It was formerly known as Sipah Sahaba and it is virtually indistinguishable from its militant wing, Lashkar Jhangvi.  In effect, it is really one organization that uses different naming tactics to create confusion.  They have been operationally linked with the Taliban and other groups like Jaish Mohammad since before 9/11. All these groups share the same beliefs and ideology and belong to the Deobandi school of thought.  As stated earlier, they have not spared even those Deobandi scholars who don’t agree with their violent tactics. Prominent names of their Deobandi victims include include the late Maulana Yousuf Binori and Maulana HasanJan – Deobandi scholars who disagreed with violence.

2) Does it scare you to step out in your own city?

It would be denying the obvious to state otherwise. Shias are under constant threat and nothing concrete has been done to protect the lives of Shia muslims in Pakistan ever since the State officially went against them in 1978.  Refer to the anti-Shia pogroms in Ali Basti Golimar in 1978.

3) Is Anti Terrorist Act Helpful in anyway?

Laws and institutes are quickly becoming irrelevant to the situation in Pakistan.  The highly politicized Supreme Court relied on lapsed Ordinances inserted by a military dictator to recently dismiss an elected Prime Minister. The same Supreme Courts released the most dangerous anti-Shia terrorist, Malik Ishaq -Leader of the Al Qaeda affiliated Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Vice President of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, even as he boasted his mass murders of Shias and promised to do more. Inspite of eye witnesses, published hate material and the boastful confessions of LeJ, the Supreme Court still released Malik Ishaq. Nonetheless, Pakistan’s biased media continues to deflect this criticism of Judicial bias (in favour of extremists) by blaming the prosecution.  The media conveniently forgets to mention that the Supreme Court even overturned a guilty verdict against Malik Ishaq.

4) Do you think minorities are marginalised by military, judiciary and political parties?

To a very large extant, Yes! The military has created the groups responsible for extremism since Pakistan and even as early as 1985, General Zia ul Haq intervened to protect the leader of these groups.  Contrary to the manufactured discourse of Pakistan’s pro-establishment media, groups like the Taliban and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (previously known as Sipah Sahaba Pakistan) were linked before 9/11 and the Taliban provided sanctuary to Lashkar Jhangvi in Kabul as early as 2000. At that time, Pakistan was under the military dictatorship of General Musharaf and Pakistan along with KSA and UAE were the only countries to recognize the Taliban as rulers of Afghanistan.  As early as 1988 while General Zia ul Haq was still alive, one anti-Shia pogrom in Gilgit resulted in casualties of over 700 Shias – even their live stock was burnt down.

The Judiciary is more concerned in settling its political scores with the current elected government and is alleged to have “an ideological bias” in favour of extremists.  Their judicial record in favour of Malik Ishaq, Lal Masjid vigilantes and Hafiz Saeed speaks volumes.

The so-called secular parties like PPP, MQM and to an extant ANP, have failed miserably in confronting this menace.  They are viewed as a weak government that is limping to the finishing line. Any credit for being the first elected government to complete their term is negated by their failure in confronting extremism. The PPP and ANP have also lost their front line leaders like Benazir Bhutto, Bashir Bilour, Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti to the same menace.  Many of their leaders have spoken against this extremism but they have repeatedly failed to press the parliament into action.  PML Q’s Sheikh Waqas Akram has also spoken out against this but as stated, there seems to be a lack of will to do anything to stem this violence.

The PML N is an an electoral coalition with ASWJ and the Punjab Law Minister who is also a cousin of Pakistan’s Chief Justice has openly participated in rallies with ASWJ/LeJ leaders. The Punjab government pays a stipend to LeJ and Punjab’s CM Shahbaz Sharif.  Until recently, Imran Khan was known as an apologist for these groups. However, the person who manages his twitter account has done a commendable job of condemning LeJ for their latest atrocity in Quetta on Febuary 16th. Lets hope that this marks a turning point where Imran Khan distances himself and PTI from the DPC.

5) Do you feel marginalised at the societal level?

Aside from massacres, these groups have systematically targeted Shia professionals, the latest casualty being a highly qualified Shia eye surgeon and his 11 year old son in Lahore 2 days ago. It has gone from bad to worse where Shias bankers, lawyers, doctors, activists, leaders, government officials, judges are being killed daily. This clealy feels like marginalization and ghettoization.

It is disappointing to see that educated people from urban areas have adopted some of the hateful views that are propagated by groups like ASWJ.  Due to massive funding (both locally and from some Gulf Countries)  and State support, these groups have seized control over scores of mosques all over Pakistan.  One would have expected Pakistan’s educated, urban upper-middle classes to confront this menace. Sadly, they have failed to do so and the sparse recent efforts are too little too late.

Similarly civil society has failed in this regard. Instead of researching this issue and highlighting this to the world, they have mostly brought into the State manufactured discourse.  Activists are more concerned in maintaining good ties. Rather than offending by stating the truth, they are regurgitating the State discourse.

6) Do you think media has a role to play in this marginalization?

The media has played an atrocious role. In this regard, the State channel PTV is surprisingly far better than the corporate-private channels. The latter give disproportionate air time to extremists and conspiracy theory cranks.  Even as extremist groups issue statements taking credit for their latest atrocities, the media continues to provide a discourse of denial and of blaming other countries instead of inviting secular and moderate individuals to highlight home grown extremism. The list of suspects is long but chief amongst those who promote this culture of denial are Ansar Abbasi, Hamid Mir, Javed Chaudhary and their favoured guests like General Hamid Gul, Farid Paracha, Orya Maqbool Jan.  Please refer to Pakistan Media Watch and research Ansar Abbasi’s role when the horrific videos of the Taliban’s public lashing of a teenage girl were released.

7) Have there been any instances where you had to hide your ‘Shia’ identity?

Yes. Like other Shias, it is increasingly becoming clear that Shia identity markers such as names (Ali, Hussain, Fatima, Hasan, Reza, Abbas etc), participation and attendance at shrines and lunger (communal meals freely distributed to commemorate the memory of the Karbala Martyrs) and flagellation marks are dangerous. Yet, one must credit both those Shias and Sunnis who defy these threats and continue to strive together for a better Pakistan.

8) Do you see any ray of hope for the ‘Shias’ or other minorities?

Unless the State, in this case, the military establishment does not abandon its project of strategic Depth in Afghanistan and its India Centric policies, there is no hope for Shias or for Sunnis, Ahmadis, Hindus, Christains and Sikhs of Pakistan.

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