Carnage in Quetta
Sectarian violence blights the Muslim month of Muharram, reports Iffat Idris from Islamabad
Muharram is a period that always causes concern in Pakistan. Thanks to a long history of sectarian attacks during the Islamic month of mourning, everyone is on their guard. This year, despite massive security precautions, the fears proved all too well founded.
The target of this year's Muharram violence was the Ashura procession in Quetta, provincial capital of Baluchistan. On 2 March, as the main Ashura procession passed through the city's Liaquat Bazaar, three gunmen opened fire indiscriminately on the crowd. In the ensuing chaos, with people fleeing and the police firing back, dozens were killed. When some in the crowd tried to turn on the attackers, two of them exploded devices attached to their waists, killing themselves and those around them. Some reports added that they detonated hand grenades. A third assailant was captured.
The violence did not stop there. Enraged Shias set fire to cars and shops. The offices of a national TV channel were gutted, as were two cinemas and a bank. Fire crews could not get through the riot-rife streets to put out the fires. By the time police and paramilitaries finally got the situation under control, some 300 properties had been damaged or destroyed. An indefinite curfew was imposed on the city.
Shia anger is understandable. To date 42 have been confirmed dead, though the figure could rise if some of those who have been critically injured pass away. The Shia community blames the authorities for not protecting them. As one Shia leader put it, "Our people are not safe at home. They are not safe in the mosques." Many criticised the police response to the attack, blaming indiscriminate police firing for at least a few of Tuesday's deaths. The community was also angered by the arrest of Shia rioters.
Such was the level of fury in the local community that Shia leaders announced on Wednesday that, "we will not bury the deceased unless cases against the concerned police officials are lodged." Hasty efforts by the provincial and national government to address Shia concerns cleared the way for mass funerals on Thursday. The curfew was temporarily lifted to allow thousands of mourners to attend.
Condemnation of the massacre has come from all sides. Opposition politicians have criticised both the extremists who carried out the attack, and the government for failing to prevent it. In a heated debate in the Senate (upper house), the information minister defended the government's efforts: "All precautionary measures within our capacity were taken." However, opposition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Senator Khurshid Ahmed complained of the "negligence of the political leadership". He and others particularly criticised the authorities for failing to prevent the post-massacre rioting that destroyed so much property.
President Pervez Musharraf ordered a judicial inquiry immediately after the incident. On Friday, he and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullahj Khan Jamali met for the second time to discuss the Quetta killings and the internal security situation. According to a press release issued afterwards they "condemned the Quetta incident resulting in the loss of innocent lives and directed the authorities concerned to take all possible measures for apprehending those responsible and awarding them exemplary punishment."
Strong words, but will they lead to strong action? The problem in Pakistan is that while sectarian attacks like that of Quetta are routinely condemned it is equally routine for the perpetrators not to be caught and for such attacks to be repeated. Authorities have so far proved unable to curb the tide of sectarian violence.
The Ashura massacre was the third major sectarian incident in Quetta in less than a year. In June 2003, eight police cadets were killed as they returned to duty after a holiday. The following month over 50 people were killed when suicide bombers struck an Imambargah -- a site hosting Shia religious activity all year round, but especially during Muharram -- in the same city. In both cases, the majority of victims belonged to the Hazara Shia community. Those responsible for the previous attacks have not yet been apprehended, leading to scepticism that those who perpetrated Tuesday's attack will be caught at all.
The prime suspects in the Quetta massacre are members of the banned Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. According to some eyewitness reports, the gunmen had the words Lashkar-e-Jhangvi painted on their guns.
Sectarian violence is a persistent problem in Pakistan. It started as a consequence of President Zia-ul-Haq's support for the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Militant religious groups were recruited as infantry to fight the Soviets. But some of those groups also made the Shias in Pakistan the target of their jihad. Sunni violence against Shias provoked a backlash, and the cycle of sectarian violence began. Today, the majority of victims are Shias, reflecting their minority position within Pakistan. They constitute around 20 per cent of the population.
Musharraf launched an offensive against sectarian violence soon after he seized power in October 1999. That initiative was boosted by the events of 11 September 2001, which gave rise to subsequent international pressure on Pakistan to curb religious extremism and militancy. But after almost two decades of unrestrained growth, sectarian groups are proving very difficult to dislodge. Attacks like the Ashura massacre only fuel resentment and animosity between Shias and Sunnis, and make the government's task that much harder.
