12 6. Sectarian Violence: Implications for Citizens and Country Violence is defined as the “use of force to injure, damage or destroy”. This force can be physical or otherwise and may therefore result in physical, mental and psychological injuries. The newspapers, magazines and television reports continuously indicate increase in violence. This spring, the US state department reported that South Asia has replaced the Middle East as the leading locus of terrorism in the world. The past two decades have witnessed a notable escalation in sectarian violence in Pakistan. Since 1979 doctrinal disputes between Sunnis (who constitute the majority of Pakistan’s populations) and Shias (who are 15% to 25% of the population) have given place to full fledged sectarian conflict between militant Sunni and Shias. Organizations have carried out assassinations and bombing campaigns that have killed political rivals as well as children and innocent people at prayers in mosques. In the last seven months of 1997 alone, the year when sectarian conflict reached at its peak, one thousand people died in such attacks in Punjab. The violence escalated further; when in 1997 (immediately preceding the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the country’s independence) another seventy people were killed in incidents of sectarian violence. This essay is an inquiry into the nature of conflicts and significance of militant sectarian conflict in Pakistan. Parties to the conflict are the Sunnis, who constitute the majority Muslims in Pakistan, and the Shias, a small but influential minority. Conflict between these two religious communities has deep roots in the history of Islam and of South Asia. In Pakistan, which, aspires to be in some senses to be an Islamic state, sectarian conflict is part of and interacts with, broader issues concerning the place of Islam in public life. This essay seeks to analyze some factors, which have contributed, especially in the past 25 years or so to militant sectarianism in Pakistan and to assess the significance of this form of Islamic radicalism. Religious violence, extremism and sectarian mindedness are not in conformity or any accordance with the real teachings of Islam. Islam teaches religious tolerance and peace for all; not only for its followers but also for the followers of other faiths as well. “Surah Alkafirun” is living proof of this fact: “Say! O disbelievers! I Worship not that which ye worship; Nor worship ye that which I worship. And I shall not worship that which ye worship. Nor will ye worship that which I worship. U not your religion, and unto me my religion” (exact translation please) We notice that in this Surah, the Prophet (PBUH) is asked to say ‘neither will you (Idolaters and infidels) change your religious practices nor shall I. I wish you to be blessed with your religion so shall I be with ‘mine’. This does not mean that the Prophet (PBUH) or his followers should abandon inviting idolaters towards Islam. This practice of preaching of Islam shall continue but should be done according to the Heavenly teaching. Reclaiming Cultural and Social Diversity: Mobilizing Youth for National Harmony and Peace: the Search for Resources Within 13“Invite them towards the way of thy Lord through wisdom and good advice”. But regrettably those who are ignorant of the vital principles of Islam and are religiously narrow minded themselves have chosen the way of murder and violence on the basis of religious and sectarian dissents. An analysis of Pakistan regarding sectarian violence and religious extremism says that “mullahs’ are just a means to overpower the government in Pakistan. The voices of extremism will be raised but they will never be able to overcome our mainstream national lives. In Pakistan religious extremism exists and certainly in a very unacceptable form due to which we are also suffering losses. Sectarian violence is an unpredictable menace in Pakistan: for weeks, for months at a time nothing happens. Then all of a sudden there is sectarian massacre. No one can tell when or where the sectarian menace will strike next. While seeking an explanation for Pakistan’s sectarian menace it is note worthy that for decades, the country’s Shias and Sunni coexisted side by side without any major problems. Sectarian killings are a relatively recent phenomenon in Pakistani society. Their roots thus lie not in religious differences, but in political and social developments within Pakistan and region. There are very real problems with regards to the capacity of the security forces. Whenever a sectarian incident takes place, police are quick to make arrests but those detained are usually scapegoats. Very few of the people arrested are actively responsible for sectarian killing. Improving the dismal record of the intelligence and society forces requires a huge investment in equipment and training: not easy for a country like Pakistan with limited resources. Banning groups does not make them ineffective rather it takes them underground and makes them even harder to trace and curb. Unless the Pakistani government finds a way to deal with these dedicated sectarian killers, the threat of sectarian violence will continue to cast a dark shadow over Pakistani society.
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