Twenty-six Shi'a Muslim pilgrims, en route to Iran, died at the hands of the militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) in Baluchistan's Mastung area Tuesday evening. According to news reports and eyewitness accounts, attackers armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers stopped the bus and forced passengers to get off. While women and children were reportedly spared, they witnessed the execution. A car arriving to rescue the pilgrims was also fired on, and three people died in the second attack.
According to the bus driver "The attackers asked passengers to step out of the bus and shot them after identifying them as Shi'as"
The attack was not an isolated incident, but was instead part of a systematic campaign of violence in the province directed towards the Shi'a. In July, 18 people were killed within 16 hours in Quetta in targeted attacks by the LeJ, including seven pilgrims waiting for transportation to Iran. On the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday, a suicide bomber reportedly intended to attack the congregation of 25,000 people praying at a mosque in the Shi'a-populated area of Marriabad in Quetta. His explosives-laden car still killed 12 Shi'a and injured 32.
The campaign of anti-Shi'a violence has largely been directed towards the predominantly Shi'a Hazara community in Baluchistan. According to a recent report in Newsline, "at least 347 Hazaras have been killed in [targeted] killings and suicide and other attacks since 1999. Of the 328 Hazaras killed up until December 31 last year, as many as 105 had been killed in 2010 alone."And government inaction is only helping the problem spread. According to Amnesty International, "Successive [Pakistani] governments have failed to address the increasingly explicit threats faced by Shi'a Muslims from groups like Lashkar-e Jhangvi, operating openly in the Punjab and Karachi and apparently striking their victims at will in Balochistan and other parts of the country.
The LeJ, the militant wing of the virulently anti-Shi'a Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), has claimed responsibility for several of the attacks, and has vowed to kill more Shi'a. The Deobandi group's stronghold is in southern Punjab, and since its inception in 1985, it has spread its campaign of anti-Shi'a incitement and violence throughout Pakistan.
The group is officially banned in Pakistan, but the ban has been far from effective. The state supported the creation of the SSP, as General Zia-ul-Haq's regime propped up Deobandi movements to counter its perceived rival Iran.
Zia's death in 1988 did not end state patronage of such groups. Hundreds of Shi'a have been killed since then, and the state continues to support groups such as the LeJ, and has called on its leaders for assistance in times of crisis. For instance, LeJ leader Malik Ishaq was reportedly flown out of jail by the Pakistan Army to talk to the militants that had stormed the army headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009. Ishaq was released this year after serving 14 years in jail. He was accused of killing 70 people and faced charges in 44 cases.
It was revealed after his release that his family was given a stipend by the Punjab government while he was in jail, and that he had been provided with police guards -- while the witnesses who testified against him lived in fear of possible repercussions. Ishaq's freedom -- after being acquitted in 34 cases and being bailed out on 10 -- was met with a display of adoration by his supporters, who showered rose petals on him.
Since then, he has embarked on a public speaking tour, addressing crowds in Sindh and Punjab. His message has been consistent: he believes he was on the right path, and vows to work to further the SSP's mission. And despite knowing that the intelligence services and government are keeping an eye on him, the crowds still show up to hear Ishaq speak, helping validate the belief held by Ishaq and his followers that the SSP's mission is right.
In a letter to The Friday Times journal, the Pakistan Ulema Council has urged "different segments of society to stop making assumptions about Ishaq's release and help him become a useful citizen" while heralding his services to the army in the 2009 headquarters siege. But for anyone who has seen Ishaq's speeches, readily available on several social media platforms, it is hard to not foresee a bloody future ahead for the Shi'a community in Pakistan. The speeches conclude with the crowds chanting anti-Shi'a slogans, while in Balochistan, a bloodied community continues to mourn its dead.
Saba Imtiaz works as a correspondent for The Express Tribune newspaper and can be reached at saba.imtiaz@gmail.com
Source,
Foreign Policy
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