The responsibility to take initiative lies with the government
The sectarian riots in Rawalpindi on the day of Ashura which reportedly claimed 11 human lives and inflicted grievous injuries on about hundred people, was yet another ugly manifestation of the burgeoning hate syndrome among different religious sects and one that has been nurtured and sustained over a long period of time by the clergy, either under the patronage of the powers that be or as a reaction against the excesses perpetrated by the rival religious groups and sects. The scars and wounds inflicted by this phenomenon are so deep and painful that there seems to be no quick-fix solution to checkmate or eliminate the menace and establish the much needed sectarian harmony in the country.
That is the reason one incident at a place leads to a chain reaction like it did in Multan, Chiniot, Bahawalnagar, Kohat, Chishtian and a few other places in Punjab. The issue is no more a question of law and order to be dealt with by the district administrations as and when it occurs. It is a national problem related to faith and perceptions of the people with all the sensitivities involved and regrettably fuelled by the xenophobic sermons of the religious scholars enjoying reverence and following among the people subscribing to or belonging to a particular religious sect.
Basically it is the responsibility of the state and the government to ensure communal and sectarian harmony in the country by adopting policies that ensure justice and fair play to all the communities and religious entities within the boundaries of the state and also to forestall the machinations of different groups and religious sects to preach hatred and promote fissiparous tendencies in the society that could ultimately harm the process of national integration and unity in a multi-cultural country like Pakistan. But instead of fulfilling its obligations in this regard, Pakistan’s militarist state encouraged the rise of both Islamism and its sectarian manifestation. Resultantly, Shia-Sunni rivalry, which dates back to the time of choosing the successor of the Prophet, has assumed a militant hue in Pakistan.
Different religious groups and sects were either allowed to operate freely to implement their divisive creeds and some of them were also used by the rulers against others through agencies out of political considerations. This was specially done during the Zia regime, which in an attempt to scuttle the burgeoning Shia influence in Pakistan in the backdrop of the Iranian revolution and the attempts by the Iranians to export the revolution to other countries, encouraged the emergence of sectarian groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), founded in 1985 by Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. The SSP rejected the notion of freedom of religious observance as it meant that Shias would be free to criticise the early caliphs and companions of the prophet. According to Zia-ur-Rehman Farouqi, who succeeded Haq Nawaz Jhangvi as head of SSP, true faith was following the way of the Prophet’s companions; anything else was heresy.
The emphasis on following the prophet and his early companions was simply a subtle way of condemning the Shia as heretics. The SSP enjoyed support of Deobandi ulemas, JI and had covert relations with ISI. Its cadres attended Afghan Mujahideen training camps and came back to kill Shia leaders within Pakistan. These assassinations resulted in severe backlash by the Shias who formed Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan in 1991. A wave of tit-for-tat killings of ulemas and attacks on each other’s worship places raised its ugly head accentuating the mutual hatred between the two sects. The SSP split into two groups and one of its off-shoot called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi continued its anti-Shia disposition. This group, founded by Riaz Basra in 1994, comprised mostly of the Afghan Jihad veterans and was closely associated with Taliban and Al-Qaida. Since the collapse of Taliban regime in Afghanistan the groups has been targeting the Hazara Shia community in Balochistan.
The sectarian conflict, unfortunately, has not been confined to Shia-Sunni rivalry; it has also erupted between different competing Sunni organisations. As Deobandi and Wahabi groups swelled their ranks through state patronage and organised militias, the traditionalist Barelvis found themselves marginalised and thus formed a militant organisation of their own called Sunni Tehrik in the mid ’90s. This rivalry has also consumed hundreds of human lives through mutual acts of terrorism.
Sectarianism, along with terrorism, is one of the biggest threats to the survival of Pakistan as an independent country. It would require an unswerving commitment and dedication by the government and all the stakeholders to put their heads and resources together to eliminate the causes of sectarianism rather than focusing merely on administrative measures to control rioting. But it is not the case anymore. The PML-N government has constituted a judicial commission to probe the incident and vowed to deal sternly with the people responsible for sectarian killings and damage to the private property in Rawalpindi. The seriousness and political will shown by government to deal with this diabolical and inherited issue is very encouraging. But as the commission is mandated only to probe this particular incident it might not be able to go into the real causes of the sectarian conflict on the national level. Perhaps a national commission would be a better idea to untangle the circumstances surrounding the genesis and flourishing of this menace and the possible remedies to contain it.
The government needs to take charge of the situation by putting the political expediencies aside and establish its writ without further loss of time. I am sure the agencies have heaps of information on the groups involved in organised acts of terrorism based on sectarian rivalries. On the basis of that information a ruthless and impartial crackdown against sectarian outfits must be launched besides strengthening intelligence networks and mobilising the administrative machinery to deal effectively with the resultant backlash, preceded by a consultative process with religious leaders of different sects and a campaign to mobilise public opinion to support the action against these villainous entities.
A long term strategy also needs to be evolved to discourage religious bigotry and extremism and inculcating a culture of tolerance within the society in the conformity with the true Islamic spirit of brotherhood. The media, ulema and civil society can also play a vital supporting role in this regard. However, the basic responsibility to take the initiative lies with the government.
Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic. He can be contacted at: [email protected].
