In April 2014 when the United Nations Organization’s secretary general Ban
Ki Moon was making a statement that the UN was ashamed of the human killing all
over the world a Shia doctor was killed in Karachi terrorists.
Perhaps, the way shia community has become a victim of terrorists belonging
to other sects, has become a personification of terrorism. The brutality of
such killings can be measured by the number of events took place during the
last year. Despite the increase of targeted killings of shias in general and
shia leaders in particular the government and international human rights
organizations have been unsuccessful to foresee the threat present in the
society and to take reasonable security measures.
The horrible and ruthless genocide of shia community must be comprehended in
the meaning of Pakistan’s position within the larger sectarian struggle between
sunnis and shias supported by international elements. The international tensions
present in Pakistan’s neighborhood have domestic implications as twenty percent
population of Pakistan believes in shia faith making nearly twenty-five million
people who are being threatened by other Muslims/terrorists by sectarian
outfits.
Pakistan is a signatory to the Convention on the Punishment and Prevention
of Genocide which clearly describes that a genocide occurs when a party/group
has the willingness to devastate a religious, ethnic, or racial group “in
whole, or in part” and acts on that intent by killing, injuring, or
deliberately causing conditions leading to the physical destruction of that
group.
Interestingly, the explanation of genocide in the convention looks like a
very well thought-out definition according to the shia community’s genocide in Pakistan
where the visible elements working against shia community are Taliban and
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Both of them have openly committed brutal murders of shias
with the motive of cleansing Pakistan
of their presence. Not only the high profile shia community members like
doctors, lawyers and judges have been targeted but also shia religious processions
and pilgrims have repeatedly been targeted in mass-shooting attacks. The bloodshed
does not end here as the Hazara shias have been attacked many times with
several car bombings that have left hundreds dead in the last couple of years.
The bitter reality would not be changed unless the government takes exemplary
measures along with the involvement of international community to end the
brutal killings of shia community in Pakistan. Taliban, other extremists and
people belonging to other sects need to learn harsh lessons to make Pakistan a
safe place for shia community.
