NEWAGEISLAM TV: The history of sectarian divide in Pakistan
Transcript of an interview with Mujahid Hussain, New Age Islam, Bureau Chief, Brussels:
17 May, 2013
The answer to your question, when the sectarian killings and violence started in Pakistan, I think it is basically the 80s when the possibility of sectarian violence and sectarian bloodshed arose. Three such incidents occurred in this region that basically created an atmosphere of sectarian and communal rifts. One was Russia’s attack on Afghanistan when we used the government machinery for jihad, and all the organised institutions of Pakistan including the army provided leadership to this jihad.
The second event was the Iran revolution. Under the leadership of Khomeini the Iranian revolution took place and Iran set up Khana Firang and started promoting specific ideology. This also created this atmosphere. And the third was the strengthening of Ziaul Haque’s hold. By toppling an elected government and hanging an elected prime minister, he founded a new system of government in Pakistan. These are the three events that has given birth to the bane of sectarianism and communalism.
I would like to tell you one thing. A religious scholar of India Maulana Manzur Ahmad Nomani wrote a book on Iranian revolution which was published here in which the Shia beliefs had been detailed. It contained the writings of Shia Ulema such as Baquir Majlisi etc on the Shia beliefs about the holy companions, the holy wives of the prophet (pbuh) and other respected personalities of Islam. These beliefs were quite new for the dominated Sunni Muslim society of Pakistan. The knowledge of such beliefs spread. Then the book also appeared and articles and reviews on the contents of the book were written.
An atmosphere was created which indicated that the sectarian battle will take root causing killings and bloodshed. And it exactly happened. We see how this battle continues in Pakistan even today and how this sectarian ethnic cleansing has happened. The statistics are there for all to see.
The slogan was written on the walls in the streets of Pakistan: ‘Kafir, kafir, Shia kafir’. In retaliation, the Shias also made inflammatory statements. Therefore I would like to say that such stuff was already present for the creation of this atmosphere. It is being used here now. When groups were being formed here for the jihad in Afghanistan, the jihad in Afghanistan had already been started and the Deobandi school of thought in Pakistan was the first to respond to the call for this jihad.
They dominate the scene till today. The chain of Deobandi madrasas which is present from Karachi, to Quetta and Peshawar was much organised. It was the only federation of madrasas of the Deobandis. They gave training to madrasa students during the summer vacation where the students instead of going to homes during the vacation, would participate in two-three months training for jihad in Afghanistan. Apart from this, the curriculum of the Dars-e-Nizami in these madrasas and the books which were taught there were full of sectarian content. This also promoted sectarianism.
Later we saw how the basic demonstration between the poor workers and the feudal lords spread and what role the government institutions played. During this period, a big development took place which is ignored by the researchers in our country. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the degree of Dars-e-Nizami of madrasas was declared at par with the degrees of the government universities. This resulted in the recruitment of a large number of non-commissioned officers in the army. Now since this organisation, the federation of madrasas was the only organised institution, so all the students of Deobandi madrasas were recruited as non-commissioned officers in the army. They became Khateeb and imams. This also created a new situation in the army.
On the other side, the tradition of Majlis was historically present among the Shi’ites. They started working with a renewed zeal after the Iranian revolution. We saw that those Ulema who targeted the ideology of the other sect were appreciated and achieved more acceptability. The situation was same on the other side. So, this became a trend. Later, books were written. One interesting aspect of this development was that among these hard-line Ulema, the majority was of those who had converted. If you do research on the sectarian conflict, then I can say that the first name that will emerge among the Shi’ites will be of Maulana Md Ismail Deobandi who was a Deobandi and converted to the Shia sect. Now he explained the events with great conviction saying, ‘See I was a member of that sect. now I have got true guidance and become a Shia. After that I realised how wrong I was. ‘This would convince the listener more as people would think that a person who had left his sect and joined theirs would be saying the truth.
After Maulana Ismail Deobandi, there is a long list. We see that Maulana Tawakkol, Taj Deen Haideri, Shabbir Shah Hafiz Abadi emerge. Yousuf Ludhianvi was doing the same job in Karachi. Haque Nawaz Jhnagvi rises and after graduating the madrasa of Kabeer Wala settles in Jhang and becomes a Khateeb there. His fiery speeches make an impact. A collective atmosphere was created. Ulema were divided in Shia and Sunni camps and a tangible tension prevailed.
The sectarian violence and killings started in the 80s. The first incident of this nature occurred in Sindh where a congregation of the Shias was attacked in which dozens of people were killed. After that, such incidents happened in big cities. Ulema were targeted. Haque Nawaz Jhangvi was targeted. Before him, Arif Hussaini of Rafqah Jafriya was killed in a madrasa in Peshawar. The road which was used to send reinforcements to the Jihadis and the army in Afghanistan was located around the village named Tawar to which Arif Hussaini belonged. During the reign of Ziaul Haque, a military operation was carried out there and they were killed with the use of tanks. Tension heightened. Iran was also providing help on sectarian lines. Khana Firang brought out its publications, educating people. Iran’s diplomats used to attend the congregations. A visible situation prevailed. Saudi Arab has always been active in the spread of its hard-line ideology. Help started pouring in from there and directly went to the madrasas. This atmosphere was created not only with the help of the state but also due to a visible intervention of Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan was in the grip of sectarian frenzy. The slogans of jihad were reverberating. Organisations were being formed. On the other side, Iran was also giving full support to the Shias. Subsequently, we saw that Sipah-e-Sahaba, Sipah-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were formed. Many disclosures about their modus operandi were made as to how they captured an area or how they looted a bank.
I clearly reminisce that a popular police officer of Rawalpindi Dr Shuaib Sadal had once made the disclosure in a press conference in 1996 that the members of Sipah-e-Sahaba and Sipah-e-Muhammad committed robberies and looted banks. Later, we witnessed many incidents. Many operations were carried out in other places and the people were arrested form Thokar Nawaz where Sipah-e-Muhammad had its centre. Later we saw that people were arrested from Jhang, then from Sargodha and Rawalpindi. So when this trend developed fully, the violence and bloodshed could not be stopped.
We were in search of strategic depth in Afghanistan which eluded us. But what we did, the organisations we had formed had to spread. They had many strong centres. They had madrasas. They had a vast field open to them to reach people. So it happened. Such books were written by both the schools of thought which the common man could not even read because the beliefs of the common men are opposite to those in the books. These books are still available though they have been banned. The magazines are still published.
There is a magazine called Nizam-e-Khilafat-e-Rashidah (the system of the caliphate) or Haque Char Yaar which are full of Fatwas of Kufr. How the opposite sect is being rooted out. Character assassination of their religious personalities is carried out. The same was done by the Shi’ites. Ghulam Hussain Najafi who was a scholar and was later killed had written four or five books even whose titles you cannot read.
Not only that they got public acceptability but also funds. They already had strength. They were getting help on international level. On one side, Iran was giving support, and on the other, Saudi Arabia was pumping in funds.
Thus these sectarians have caused irreparable damage to Pakistan society. In fact they have turned it into a battle field. Now Pakistan is a battle field of Iran and Saudia’s sectarian war where they fight their own battles. Manpower is in abundance, the state is already weak, people do not have employment and jihad is a way of life. It cannot be said where this state is heading. I do not think the sectarian situation that has developed in Pakistan can now be controlled.
Neither the governments nor the higher authorities agree on it (on fighting them) and fortunately the secret institutions of the army that possess the power use them. Now no one can say that these institutions have no hand in the formation of Jaish-e-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. It is a known fact. It is another matter that we try to ignore or hide this fact. But I should tell you that in Pakistan the situation has crossed the danger level. It has entered our houses. Today the Pakistani society is divided so badly that people openly say that if a hundred Shias have been killed in Quetta along with children, it is not an issue as it is right to kill the snakes. Today no one takes note of the advertisement published in a newspaper in Pakistan that the Shias are Kafirs; their children should be kidnapped and their men should be killed. I think sectarianism is more dangerous than terrorism and extremism.
URL: https://newageislam.com/multimedia/newageislam-tv-history-sectarian-divide/d/11616