Sectarian violence in Pakistan

Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to attacks and counter-attacks against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's sect, usually a religious extremist group. Targets in Pakistan include the Shia, Barelvis, Sunnis,[6] Sufis, Ahmadis, and small groups of Deobandis. As many as 4,000 people are estimated to have been killed by Shia-Sunni sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987–2007.[7] And since 2008 thousands of Shia have been killed by Sunni extremists according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).[8] One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan is that militants often target Sunni and Shia worshipping places during prayers in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".[9] Human Rights Watch also states that in 2011 and 2012 Pakistan minority groups Hindus, Ahmadi, and Christians "faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution in the country".[10][11] Attacks on Sufi shrines by Salafis have also been reported.[12][13]

Sectarian violence in Pakistan
Part of the War on Terrorism
Date1947 – present
(74 years)
Location
 Pakistan
Result Ongoing (Low level)
Belligerents

Extremist, Terrorist Groups

Lashkar-e-Farooqi

Defenders
Pakistan

Pakistan Police force

The victims:

Casualties and losses
Since 1947, tens of thousands of Shia were killed in Pakistan by militants[2][3][4][5]

Among those blamed for the sectarian violence in the country are mainly Sunni militant groups, such as the Sipah-e-Sahaba, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,[14] Jundallah (affiliates of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).[9] Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan "has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks" on Shia according to Human Rights Watch.[8] Taliban militant groups are also blamed for attacks on Shias, Barelvis and Sufis.[15][16]

Religions and sects
Shia and Sunni

Estimates of the size of the two largest religious groups in Pakistan vary. According to Library of Congress, Pew Research Center, Oxford University, the CIA Factbook and other experts, adherents of Shia Islam in Pakistan make up between 15-20% of the country's total population.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] while the remaining 77%[25][26][27][28][29] are Sunni.

Pakistan, like India, is said to have at least 16 million Shias.[30][31][32] Globally, Shia Islam constitutes 10–20%[33][34][35][36][37] of the total Muslims, while the remaining 80%–90% practice Sunni Islam.[38] Of the Sunni, the majority follow the Barelvi school, while 15-25% follow the Deobandi school of jurisprudence.[39][40]

Ahmadi and Sunni

An estimated 0.22%-2.2% of the population are Ahmadi,[41] who were designated 'non-Muslims' by a 1974 constitutional amendment, although they consider themselves Muslims, due to pressure from Sunni extremist groups.[42]

Other groups

Hinduism is the second largest religion in Pakistan after Islam, according to the 1998 Census.[43] Non-Muslim religions also include Christianity, which has 2,800,000 (1.6%) adherents as of 2005.[44] The Bahá'í Faith claims 30,000, followed by Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis, each claiming 20,000 adherents,[45] and a very small community of Jains.

Barelvis

Barelvis form the majority within the Sunni sect, while the Deobandis form 15-25%. However, the Barelvis have been targeted and killed by Deobandi groups in Pakistan such as the TTP, SSP, LeJ etc.[46] Suicide attacks, vandalism and destruction of sites considered holy to those in the Barelvi movement have been perpetrated by Deobandi extremist groups. This includes attacks, destruction and vandalism of Data Darbar in Lahore, Abdullah Shah Ghazi's tomb in Karachi, Khal Magasi in Balochistan, and Rahman Baba's tomb in Peshawar.[46] The murder of various Barelvi leaders have also been committed by Deobandi terrorists.[46]

Barelvi clerics claim that there is a bias against them in various Pakistani establishments such as the DHA, who tend to appoint Deobandi Imams for mosques in their housing complexes rather that Barelvi ones. Historical landmarks such as Badshahi Masjid also have Deobandi Imams, which is a fact that has been used as evidence by Barelvi clerics for bias against Barelvis in Pakistan.[47][48] The Milade Mustafa Welfare Society has asserted that the Religious Affairs Department of DHA interferes with Human Resources to ensure that Deobandi Imams are selected for mosques in their housing complex.[48]

In April 2006 the entire leadership of two prominent Barelvi outfits, the Sunni Tehreek and Jamaat Ahle Sunnat were killed in a bomb attack in the Nishtar Park bombing, in Pakistan's largest city and business hub Karachi.[49][50] On 12 June 2009, Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi, a prominent cleric of the Barelvi sect and outspoken critic of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan was killed in a suicide bombing.[51] Between 2005 and 2010, hundreds of Barelvi sect members have been killed in more than 70 suicide attacks at different religious shrines.[52]

Deobandis

Deobandis have alleged a bias towards Barelvis by the Punjab Government.[53] In December 2011, Deobandi clerics said that over the past 3 years, 19 of their mosques had been illegally occupied by Barelvis. They also alleged that Pakistan intelligence agencies were harassing their followers and as a consequence boycotted a meeting on Muharram to promote harmony between Muslim sects.[53]

On 18 May 2000, leading Deobandi leader and scholar Mullah Muhammad Yusuf Ludhianvi who taught at one of Pakistan's largest Deobandi seminaries, the Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia was gunned down by unidentified attackers in Karachi, in a suspected targeted sectarian killing.[54]

On 30 May 2004, religious scholar Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, Shaykh al-Hadith of Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia was assassinated in Karachi.[55]

On 22 March 2020, an assassination attempt was made on prominent intellectual leader and religious scholar of the Deobandi movement Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani which he survived.[56]

On 10 October 2020, prominent religious scholar Maulana Muhammad Adil Khan, head of Jamia Farooqia was gunned down by unidentified attackers in Karachi in apparent sectarian violence.[57][58]

Shias

Shias allege discrimination by the Pakistani government since 1948, claiming that Sunnis are given preference in business, official positions and administration of justice.[59][60]

Zia-ul-Haq
See also: Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization

On 5 July 1977, General Zia-ul-Haq led a coup d'état.[61] In the year or two before Zia-ul-Haq's coup, his predecessor, leftist Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had faced vigorous opposition which was united under the revivalist banner of Nizam-e-Mustafa[62] ("Rule of the prophet"). According to supporters of the movement, establishing an Islamic state based on sharia law would mean a return to the justice and success of the early days of Islam when the Islamic prophet Muhammad ruled the Muslims.[63] In an effort to stem the tide of street Islamisation, Bhutto had also called for it and banned the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims, nightclubs and horse racing.[63][64]

Zia-ul-Haq committed himself to establishing an Islamic state and enforcing sharia law.[63] Zia established separate Shariat judicial courts[65] and court benches[66][67] to judge legal cases using Islamic doctrine.[68] New criminal offences (of adultery, fornication, and types of blasphemy), and new punishments (of whipping, amputation, and stoning to death), were added to Pakistani law. Interest payments for bank accounts were replaced by "profit and loss" payments. Zakat charitable donations became a 2.5% annual tax. School textbooks and libraries were overhauled to remove un-Islamic material.[69] Offices, schools, and factories were required to offer praying space.[70] Zia bolstered the influence of the ulama (Islamic clergy) and the Islamic parties,[68] whilst conservative scholars became fixtures on television.[70] Thousands of activists from the Jamaat-e-Islami party were appointed to government posts to ensure the continuation of his agenda after his passing.[63][68][71][72] Conservative ulama (Islamic scholars) were added to the Council of Islamic Ideology.[66] Separate electorates for Hindus and Christians were established in 1985 even though Christian and Hindu leaders complained that they felt excluded from the country's political process.[73]

Zia's state sponsored Islamization increased sectarian divisions in Pakistan between Sunnis and Shias (due to Zia's anti-Shia policies)[74] and also between Deobandis and Barelvis.[75] A solid majority of Barelvis had supported the creation of Pakistan,[76] and Barelvi ulama had also issued fatwas in support of the Pakistan Movement during the 1946 elections,[77][78] but ironically Islamic state politics in Pakistan was mostly in favor of Deobandi (and later Ahl-e-Hadith/Salafi) institutions.[79] This was despite the fact that only a few (although influential) Deobandi clerics had supported the Pakistan Movement.[79] Zia-ul-Haq forged a strong alliance between the military and Deobandi institutions.[79]

Initial Violence

In the Therhi Massacre of June 1963 on the day of Ashura, students of a Deobandi Sunni Madrassa attacked and killed 118 Shias and burned down a Taziya and Imambargah in Therhi, Sindh province. Many were burnt alive while others were butchered with meat cleavers and machetes.[80]

Attacks on Shias increased under the presidency of Zia-ul-Haq,[59] with the first major sectarian riots in Pakistan breaking out in 1983 in Karachi and later spreading to Lahore and Balochistan.[81] Sectarian violence became a recurring feature of the Muharram month every year, with sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias taking place in 1986 in Parachinar.[81] In one notorious incident, the 1988 Gilgit Massacre, Osama bin Laden-led Sunni tribals assaulted, massacred and raped Shia civilians in Gilgit after being inducted by the Pakistan Army to quell a Shia uprising in Gilgit.[82][83][84][85][86]

State organised violence

Zia-ul-Haq’s policies legitimized a state of perpetual violence against Shia Pakistanis. These Shias that come back from pilgrimages in Iran or Iraq were detained, questioned and many times forcibly disappeared under the pretenders of being "fighters". No such treatment was enforced on Sunni jihadists returning from abroad.[87]

Possible outside funding

Some allege that Persian Gulf Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, were exacerbating tensions by funding radical extremist Sunnis. Wikileaks has reported that US$100 million are gifted to extremist Wahhabi preachers in Southern Punjab from outside countries such as Saudi Arabia. Southern Punjab contains active extremist Sunni groups such as LEJ and their benefactors, such as Tehrike Taliban and Al-Qaeda.[88]

Sectarian violence in Pakistan is a recent phenomenon (starting in the late 1970s and significantly growing in the mid 1980s) and that for most of the country's history, people of different sects have co-existed peacefully. The development of sectarianism is widely attributed to be a result of Arab states and other outside powers inside Pakistan having provided millions of dollars of funding to fundamentalist networks.[89]

A fact recognized by all in Pakistan is that the people of the country are not sectarian-minded. Before jihad took hold of Pakistan and extremist clerics became threatening, there was considerable harmony between the sects. Muharram was not the season of sectarian violence and mayhem. Today, the world understands that the intensification of the sectarian feeling among the clerics is actually a result of a war relocated from Pakistan's neighbourhood in the Gulf.

— The Express Tribune, 2012[90]

2000–2010

Since the year 2000, over 2,000 Shia Hazara community members including many women and children have been killed or wounded in attacks perpetrated by Al-Qaeda and Taliban in the southwestern town of Quetta. Many hundreds of Shia Muslims have been killed in northern areas of Pakistan, such as Gilgit, Baltistan, Parachinar and Chelas. The violence worsened immediately after 11 September 2001 and the expulsion of the Taliban from Afghanistan.[91]

In 2002, 12 Shia Hazara police cadets were gunned down in Quetta.

In 2003 July, the main Shia Mosque was attacked in Quetta during Friday prayers, killing 53 worshippers.[92]

On 2 March 2004, at least 42 persons were killed and more than 100 wounded when a procession of Shia Muslims was attacked by rival Sunni extremists at Liaquat Bazaar in Quetta.[93]

On 7 May 2004, 16 Shia worshippers were killed and 200 wounded in a suicide bombing at Hyderi Mosque in Karachi.[92]

On 31 May 2004, 25 persons were killed and 34 wounded in a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque on MA Jinnah Road in Karachi during evening prayers.[92]

On 1 October 2004, 32 persons were killed and 75 wounded in a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque at Sialkot, Punjab province during Friday prayers.[92]

In 2006, sectarian violence led to 300 deaths.[94] In April 2006 in Karachi, a bomb attack on a Barelvi gathering in celebration of Muhammad's birthday killed at least 57 people, including several central leaders of the Sunni Tehreek.[95][96]

On 28 December 2009, as many as 40 Shias were killed in an apparent suicide bombing in Karachi. The bomber attacked a Shia procession that was held to mark Ashura.[97] Since June 2010 in Karachi, Sipah-e-Sahaba is involved in the target killing of seven innocent bystanders and intellectuals; all were from the Twelver Shia Muslim community. Sectarian riots and the targeted killing of doctors in the provincial capital have drawn attention to the present democratic system. Karachi had witnessed similar sectarian tension in the early 1980s when then-President Zia-ul-Haq was in power. The military regime of those years had supported certain groups to strengthen its rule and Karachi underwent the worst situation after the sectarian riots. The Shia-Sunni clashes had started from the same section of the city, Godra Colony in New Karachi, after a small incident, and subsequently the clashes gripped the entire city.

In early September 2010, three separate attacks were reported in different parts of Pakistan. The first one took place on 1 September in Lahore where at least 38 Shia were killed and 160 people were injured during a procession. The second attack was reported to have taken place in Mardan, targeted Ahmadiyyas, and at least one person was killed. The third one occurred on 3 September in the city of Quetta, and killed 73 people[98] during a Quds Day procession.[99]

On 16 December, a mortar attack killed nine people, including women and children, in Hangu, a town that has been a flash point for sectarian clashes between Shia and Sunni communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province, near the tribal area. On the same day in another attack, one child was killed and 28 people were wounded in Peshawar, the capital of KP province, as Shia Muslims marked Ashura.[100]

2011–2013
Further information: January 2013 Pakistan bombings

20 September 2011 Mastung bus shooting a bus travelling in Mastung District near the city of Quetta in the Pakistan province of Balochistan was attacked, leaving at least 26 people dead. The victims were Shi'a Muslim pilgrims of the Hazara community, suggesting the attack to have been a targeted killing of sectarian nature.[101] Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Deobandi organization claimed responsibility for the attack.[102]

In the February 2012 Kohistan Shia Massacre, 18 Shia Muslim residents of Gilgit-Baltistan travelling by bus from Rawalpindi, Punjab to Gilgit, Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan died. The buses were stopped in Kohistan and the victims killed by individuals dressed in military uniforms based on their religious affiliation. The dead included three children, while 27 other passengers on the bus were spared.

On 16 August 2012, four buses destined for Gilgit and the Eid-ul-Fitr festivals were stopped. Twenty-five Shia passengers were identified by their identity cards, separated from other passengers, and shot dead.[103] Al-Qaeda-affiliated Sunni Muslim militants claimed responsibility for the attack. Three Shia Hazara community members were shot dead in the town of Quetta, which is home to a Sunni Taliban leadership group known as Quetta Shura.

As per the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in 2013 nearly 700 Shia were killed and over 1,000 injured in over 200 sectarian attacks.[104]

On 10 January 2013, several bombings took place in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta and in the northern Swat Valley, killing a total of 130 people and injuring at least 270.

A bomb blast on Thursday 10 January 2013 occurred at a snooker club which was close to a police station and a Shia Mosque. "First suicidal attack was conducted and then a car bomb exploded on Alamdar Road," Said Mir Zubair Mehmood, the Capital City Police Officer. The bomb exploded at 8:50 p.m. local time. As police, rescuers and media personal rushed to the blast site, another bomb fixed to a vehicle parked near the site exploded, causing an even greater number of casualties. Over 100 were killed and 121 wounded in the second twin bomb attack. Lashkae-e-jhangvi (LEJ), an extremist terrorist group banned by the government, has claimed responsibility for all the blasts. LEJ has organized under the name Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat and the leader of the organization is Ahmad Ludhanvi, an extremist Salafi priest.

The family members of the people killed in the bomb blast refused to bury the dead unless the perpetrators were prosecuted, the military provided security for and took over the city of Quetta, and attackers stop killing Shia Muslims. Protesters staged a sit-in in solidarity with them in other cities, including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, on both Friday and Saturday. Protests also occurred outside the Pakistani embassy in London and the Birmingham Consulate, in addition to countries with Shia populations such as Canada and Australia. Islamic custom dictates the dead should be buried as soon possible; to postpone the burial is symbolic of the pain and suffering the families of the killed experience.

Quetta Market bombing

On Saturday 16 February 2013, at least 90 people were reported dead and 180 wounded after a bomb exploded in a grocery market in Quetta. The death toll subsequently rose to 113.[105] The terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility for the attack. Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said, "the government was determined to fight such dastardly acts and bring the culprits to justice." The remote-controlled bomb was hidden in a water tanker, and ripped through the town's main bazaar, a language school, and a computer center. At the time of the blast on Saturday afternoon, dozens of people, mainly women, were shopping for the evening meal and children were leaving classes. Quetta police chief Mir Zubia Mehmood said the explosive weighed 1000 kg, which was larger than the explosives used in the January attack.[106][107][108][109]

Targeted killings

On 18 February 2013, an unidentified gunmen shot dead Dr. Syed Ali Haider and his 11-year-old son while they were driving in their car in the Gulberg area of Lahore. Haider was shot six times in the head and died instantly while his son was shot once in the head and later died at a hospital. Haider was a leading vitreo-retinal surgeon, who also worked in collaboration with the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust Hospital. According to his uncle, he had "no personal enmity" and his killing was sectarian-motivated as he belonged to the Shia community. These killings were widely condemned.[110][111]

Karachi bombing

On 3 March 2013, a powerful bomb blast in the city of Karachi in the area of Abbas Town killed 45 people and wounded 150 others. The Bomb exploded outside a Shia Mosque as people were leaving from prayers. The blast destroyed the building, set other buildings on fire, and caused a power outage in the city. Human rights group have accused the Pakistani government of turning a "blind eye" to the bombings.[112][113][114][115]

Parachinar twin market bombing

On Friday 26 July 2013, a twin set of bomb blasts occurred in Parachinar, the main town of Kurram tribal Agency. The bomb blast killed 60 people and injured at least 187.[116] The first bomb blast hit the Parachinar market as people were busy buying food in preparation for the opening of the fast. The second bomb exploded near a road side. A terrorist organization called Ansar-ul-mujahideen claimed responsibility.[117] Abu baser spokesmen told a news channel that the attacks were carried out to seek revenge for Sunni Muslims in Syria and Iraq. "We have planned more similar attacks against the Shia community in Pakistan." Syed Jamal Shan, who visited the twin bombing site, told the Express Tribune, "The blast took place when people were shopping for iftar. Blood and pieces of human flesh were scattered all around." Shia clerics and leaders demanded military action against the perpetrators of the twin blasts similar to the one in the Swat valley. The elder of the six Sunni tribes living in lower Khurram Agency expressed their sorrow over the incident to show solidarity with the victims of the bombings. The Sunni elders expressed their pain they share over the tragedy.

Ashoura violence

During the Shia procession for Ashoura in November, violence took place in Rawalpindi leading to a curfew where when the Ashoura procession was passing in front of a Sunni mosque. The curfew was lifted, but violence continued and the curfew was reimposed. Nine people In which 8 shias and a passerby died and 50 others were injured, while a Sunni seminary students burned markets down. Violence also erupted in Multan and Chishtian, where soldiers were called out to maintain law and order. In Chishtian, a Shia mosque was partially damaged and several shops were destroyed when Sunnis torched them. At least six Imambargahs and shia mosques were burnt by the armed group of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan on the night of Ashura. Imambargah Hifazat Ali Shah, Bohar Bazar, Rawalpindi was burnt and Zuljinah (Horse) was killed.[118][119]

Following that violence, in Kohat, at least three people were killed and the army was called in to establish control. In this incident, the Sunni armed group Ahl e Sunnat Wal Jamaat held a rally on 18 November to protest the Rawalpindi; the deaths then happened after Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat's terrorists fired near a Shia mosque.[120]

On the same day, 23 Shias were killed in Rawalpindi in a suicide bombing,[103] 8 people were killed and several injured after a bomb exploded in a Ashoura procession in Dera Ismail Khan and several others in a Karachi bombing.[103]

Pak-Iran border Pilgrim killings

At least 23 people died and seven other people were wounded in a gun and suicide attack in a restaurant near the Pakistan-Iran border. Most or all of these people are believed to be Shia Pilgrims who were coming from Iran. They say the gunmen targeted hotels in the town of Taftan, Balochistan province, where the pilgrims were staying after returning from Iran. Recent years have witnessed a series of bloody attacks by Sunni militants on Pakistan's Shia community.[121] [122]

Shikarpur Mosque bomb blast

In Friday, 30 January 2015, over 60 people were killed at a bomb blast at a Shia mosque in Shikarpur, Pakistan. Militant group Jundullah claimed responsibility for the attack.[123]

A Shia man's killing in police custody

An axe-wielding police officer killed a Shia man in police custody, claiming that he had committed blasphemy by insulting the companions of the Prophet Muhammad.[124]

Lahore church bombings

On 15 March 2015, two churches in Lahore were bombed during Sunday services,[125] killing 15 people and wounding seventy others.[126][127]

2015 Karachi bus shooting

On 13 May 2015 an armed attack on a bus travelling near Karachi left at least 45 people dead. Most of the victims were of the Ismaili Shia minority, suggesting the attack was a targeted killing of sectarian nature.

2016

On 4 October-2016, 4 women from Shia Hazara Community returning their home were killed and several injured, when two motorcyclists opened fire on a local bus which was travelling to Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan.[128]

On 17 Oct-2016, one child killed and 15 others injured including 11 ladies and children in a cracker bomb attack during a ladies Majlis being held at Imambargah Dar-e-Abbas, situated in FC Area, Karachi.[129]

29 October 2016 at least five killed and seven people, including women injured when armed terrorists targeting Shia Muslims opened fire on participants of ladies Majlis (Shia religious gathering) at home in Nazimabad No.4, Karachi, close to Police & Ranger Stations.[130][131]

On 12 November-2016, above 45 people, including women and children, were killed and more than 100 injured by a bomb explosion in the crowded Shah Noorani Shrine situated in Hub town, Lasbela District, Balochistan.[132]

2017

As per a report by Global Extremism Monitor, 136 members of the Shia community were killed in 2017.[133]

On 19 August 2017, Ataullah Shah, a leader of JUI (F) and Khateeb of a sunni mosque, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Dera Ismail Khan.[134]

2020

In July 2020, the Punjab Legislative Assembly of Pakistan passed the Tahaffuz-e-Bunyad-e-Islam (Protection of Foundation of Islam) Bill, making it mandatory for all Pakistanis to identically revere esteemed Sunni figures as the only acceptable version of Islam in Pakistan. The passing of the bill sparked outrage among the Shia clergy that the bill was contrary to Shia beliefs.[135]

In August 2020, the about 42 blasphemy cases registered primarily targeting Shias even included a three-year-old Shia child.[135]

Thousand of Pakistanis marched for an anti-Shia protest in Karachi, the country's financial hub, on 11 September 2020,[136] also the death anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan and himself a Shia. The march was caused due to Shia clergies making disparaging remarks against historical Islamic figures. The remarks were televised during the Shia Ashura procession. Ashura commemorates the Battle of Karbala, which caused the schism in Islam. Sunni groups demanded that disparaging remarks against any Islamic figures were not acceptable and will not be tolerated.[137]

Sufism
Further information: Sufism § Pakistan, Sufism in Pakistan, and Persecution of Sufis § Pakistan

In two years, 2010 and 2011, 128 people were killed and 443 were injured in 22 attacks on Shrines and tombs of saints and religious people in Pakistan, most of them Sufi in orientation.[138]

Sufism, a mystical Islamic tradition, has a long history and a large popular following in Pakistan. Popular Sufi culture is centred on Thursday night gatherings at shrines and annual festivals which feature Sufi music and dance. Contemporary Islamic fundamentalists criticise its popular character, which in their view, does not accurately reflect the teachings and practice of the Prophet and his companions.[13][139]

Ahmadis
Main article: Persecution of Ahmadis

Ahmadi Muslims were declared to be 'Non-Muslims' by the Bhutto government which gave into Sunni extremist pressure in 1974 and they were further deprived of their basic religious rights in the Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan and Ordinance XX which has led to thousands of cases of Ahmadis being charged with various offences for alleged blasphemy and further fueled the Sectarian tensions which exist in Pakistan. Many thousands of Ahmadis were killed in the 1953 Lahore riots, in the 1974 Anti-Ahmadiyya riots and the May 2010 attacks on Ahmadi mosques in Lahore. The 1953 riots were the largest killings of Ahmadis. In 2014, a prominent Canadian national surgeon, Dr. Mehdi Ali Qamar was killed in front of his family while he was on a humanitarian visit to Pakistan, one of 137 other Ahmadis who were killed in Pakistan from 2010–2014.[140]

Following the 2010 Lahore massacre, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said "Members of this religious community have faced continuous threats, discrimination and violent attacks in Pakistan. There is a real risk that similar violence might happen again unless advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence is adequately addressed. The Government must take every step to ensure the security of members of all religious minorities and their places of worship so as to prevent any recurrence of today's dreadful incident." Ban's spokesperson expressed condemndation and extended his condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government.[141]

Christians

A Christian church in Islamabad was attacked after 11 September 2001, and some Americans were among the dead.

On 22 September 2013, a twin suicide bomb attack took place at All Saints Church[142] in Peshawar, Pakistan, in which 127 people were killed and over 250 injured.[143][144][145][146] On 15 March 2015, two blasts took place at Roman Catholic Church and Christ Church during Sunday service at Youhanabad town of Lahore.[125] At least 15 people were killed and seventy were wounded in the attacks.[147][148]

Hindus
Krishan Mandir, Kallar, Pakistan
Further information: Anti-Hinduism in Pakistan, Persecution of Hindus in Pakistan, 2014 Larkana temple attack, 2019 Ghotki riots, and 2020 Karak temple attack

Hindus in Pakistan are treated as second-class citizens and many have continued to flee to India.[149][150] According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan data, just around 1,000 Hindu families fled to India in 2013.[151] In May 2014, a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, revealed in the National Assembly of Pakistan that around 5,000 Hindus are migrating from Pakistan to India every year.[152]

Those Pakistani Hindus who have fled to India allege that Hindu girls are sexually harassed in Pakistani schools, adding that Hindu students are made to read the Quran and that their religious practices are mocked, which is rampant among Muslim majority nations.[153] The Indian government is planning to issue Aadhaar cards and PAN cards to Pakistani Hindu refugees, and simplifying the process by which they can acquire Indian citizenship.[154]

Persecution
View from top of the temple, Katas, Pakistan

Separate electorates for Hindus and Christians were established in 1985 – a policy originally proposed by Islamist leader Abul A'la Maududi. Christian and Hindu leaders complained that they felt excluded from the county's political process, but the policy had strong support from Islamists.[73]

In the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition Pakistani Hindus faced riots. Mobs attacked five Hindu temples in Karachi and set fire to 25 temples in towns across the province of Sindh. Shops owned by Hindus were also attacked in Sukkur. Hindu homes and temples were also attacked in Quetta.[155]

In 2005, 32 Hindus were killed by firing from the government side near Nawab Akbar Bugti's residence during bloody clashes between Bugti tribesmen and paramilitary forces in Balochistan. The firing left the Hindu residential locality near Bugti's residence badly hit.[156]

The rise of Taliban insurgency in Pakistan has been an influential and increasing factor in the persecution of and discrimination against religious minorities in Pakistan, such as Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, and other minorities.[157] It is said that there is persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan.[158][159]

In July 2010, around 60 members of the minority Hindu community in Karachi were attacked and evicted from their homes following an incident of a Dalit Hindu youth drinking water from a tap near an Islamic mosque.[160][161]

In January 2014, a policeman standing guard outside a Hindu temple at Peshawar was gunned down.[162] Pakistan's Supreme Court has sought a report from the government on its efforts to ensure access for the minority Hindu community to temples – the Karachi bench of the apex court was hearing applications against the alleged denial of access to the members of the minority community.[163][164][165]

See also

Bibliography
  • Saif, Mashal. The 'Ulama in Contemporary Pakistan: Contesting and Cultivating an Islamic Republic. United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2020.

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