Sectarian violence against Shia Muslims intensifies in Pakistan

The minority community has come under repeated attacks in the Sunni Muslim-majority nation

Athar Ali was praying at Jamia mosque in the Kocha Risaldar area of Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar when two terrorists attacked worshippers.

“It was 1.15pm. The imam was giving the sermon when we heard gunshots at the entrance. The terrorists, clothed in black, then opened a burst in the mosque. I laid face down on the carpet. Suddenly there was a blast,” he told UCA News.

“I lost sense of things for about 15 seconds. Forgot I was alive or injured. Couldn’t see in the black smoke. The doors and windows were broken. It was dead silence. Body parts were piled upon each other. I could only smell blood and gunpowder.”

Rescue teams arrived within half an hour. However, the injured outnumbered the rescuers. About 100 died in the March 4 attack including three acquaintances of Ali, who works at a local bank. The funerals continued until March 7 even as the death toll kept rising.

Ali, 32, now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. “I have forgotten how to smile. Two of my colleagues are still hospitalized. The rhythm of work isn’t the same. Our city doesn’t seem the same anymore. A continual discussion in our house is about leaving for abroad or at least migrating to another city,” the banker says.

Jamia is among the three main Shia mosques in the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The other two were previously targeted in 2012 and 2015.

My prayers are with the injured and bereaved, the community of Kocha Risaldar mosque and the people of Peshawar who have suffered far too much

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, which also claimed four children.

Shia Muslims constitute about 20 percent of the 200 million population of Pakistan, which has been seeing a surge in violence against Shias since Islamization of the country in the 1980s under former military ruler Zia-ul-Haq.

The violence has increased in recent months with dozens of military personnel killed in scores of attacks on army outposts. Many attacks have been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, who, analysts say, have been emboldened by the Afghan Taliban’s seizure of power last August.

In January, a lay pastor in Peshawar was killed. In 2013, at least 85 people were killed and more than 140 wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at All Saints Church in Peshawar.

On Feb. 27, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby visited the attacked Peshawar church amid strict security measures across the city. He expressed solidarity with the Christian families of the victims of terrorism and assured the parishioners that they are not forgotten by Christians around the world.

During the visit, he unveiled the foundation stone for a new Centre for Interfaith Harmony and Reconciliation at the church.

In a series of tweets, Archbishop Welby described the mosque attack as a heinous, godless crime.

“My prayers are with the injured and bereaved, the community of Kocha Risaldar mosque and the people of Peshawar who have suffered far too much. We stand in solidarity with the Church of Pakistan and our Muslim brothers and sisters in condemnation of this and other criminal acts of senseless violence and murder,” he stated.

“Visiting Pakistan last weekend, I met with faith leaders who are committed to peace, justice and harmony between communities in Pakistan. I redouble my prayers and support for all those calling and striving for this vision — and for protection for all Pakistan’s minorities.”

Church of Pakistan president Bishop Azad Marshall also expressed grief. “I, jointly with our Muslim brothers, strongly condemn this heinous terrorist attack and extend our deepest heartfelt support to the bereaved families,” he stated in a tweet.

Shia political faction Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen on March 6 held countrywide protests against the Peshawar bomb blast. Christian activists of the Minorities Alliance Pakistan (MAP) joined the protest in Islamabad.

“We share the grief of innocent worshippers. We urge the government to stop the bloodshed,” MAP Islamabad president Asif John told the gathering.

While we welcome the government’s pledge to hold to account those responsible for this heinous attack, we urge them to go further in increasing protection for the country’s Shia community

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) UK also called on the government of Pakistan to increase protection for the country’s Shia Muslim community.

“Extremist elements within the country have been emboldened to act by government rhetoric which has promoted and granted space to such attitudes, to the detriment of the lives and safety of sectarian and religious minorities in the country,” CSW’s founder oresident Mervyn Thomas said in a March 7 statement.

“While we welcome the government’s pledge to hold to account those responsible for this heinous attack, we urge them to go further in increasing protection for the country’s Shia community and by resisting narratives which conflate national and religious identities and risk emboldening the perpetrators of religiously motivated violence and intolerance.”

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the fear of persecution by militants remains a consistent feature.

“The assault bears the hallmarks of sectarian outfits that have been allowed to run amok in recent years. Every concession — political or otherwise — made to religious or sectarian extremism emboldens perpetrators for whom the right of life (much less the right to freedom of religion or belief) holds no meaning,” the commission stated in a March 4 tweet.

According to the Lahore-based Center for Social Justice, some 208 people were accused of blasphemy in the year 2020 alone. The largest number of victims (70 percent) belonged to the Shia sect. The others included Ahmadis (20 percent), Sunnis (5 percent), Christians (3.5 percent), Hindus (1 percent) and those whose religion was not confirmed (0.5 percent).