PESHAWAR: Saturday’s blast in Mohallah Baqir Shah hints at the beginning of a newer, darker chapter in the history of this city, which is already gripped by sectarianism.

Masjid-e-Chishtia belongs to the Sunni Barelvi sect, which until recently, was primarily the target of verbal attacks from Deobandi activists of ASWJ (Sipah-e-Sahaba Taliban).  The prayer leader of the mosque had reportedly received several threatening letters before it was attacked on March 9. Five people, including the mosque’s imam,died and 29 others were injured in the incident.

Violence against Sunni Barelvis surfaced with the bombing of shrines and killing of its caretakers in mainly suburban areas. These attacks, however, occurred in the late hours of the night preventing fatalities of visitors.

Following security threats, the Chan Agha Bacha family gave up its 100-year-old tradition of sending a ‘dali’ to the Bari Imam shrine in Islamabad. The ‘dali’ was carried to Bari Imam from Peshawar in a procession in which participants travelled on foot. It was a seven-day march where participants would cross River Indus on boat instead of using a bridge. The arrival of this dali was the formal start of the annual urs at Bari Imam.

Violence on Sunni Barelvi worship places dates back to 2005 when Mufti Muneer Shakir founded Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) in Tirah, Khyber Agency and made Mangal Bagh its first commander. After that, several pirs were killed in Khyber Agency and Pir Saifur Reham, an Afghan national, was forced to move to Lahore. The violence, however, was not one sided.

The bloodshed soon spread to the settled district of Peshawar and on March 5, 2009 the shrine of Sufi poet Rehman Baba was destroyed in four powerful blasts.

Shaikh Umar Baba’s shrine in Chamkani was also targeted, while many lesser known shrines have been destroyed in blasts across the district.

It is stated by certain apologists that the LeI does not attack mosques. Peshawar Police, however, blamed the 2009 Meena Bazaar attack on LeI commander Syed Noor. The crowded marketplace was reportedly bombed due to the presence of women buyers and their interaction with male shopkeepers.

Shias have already been the victims of target killing by Deobandi militants (ASWJ, Taliban) in the city, especially since the beginning of this year, and it seems that now Sunni Barelvis may be added to the list. Residents of the city now question the presence of the government’s writ city, and rightly so.

In the last few years, thousands of Sunni Barelvis in addition to at least 21,000 Shias and hundreds of Ahmadis and Christians have been massacred by Saudi-funded Deobandi militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2013.

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