Pakistan: The Shiite minority is threatened by Sunni extremist violence

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns about a new wave of Sunni extremist violence against Shiites in Pakistan and calls for better protection of the religious minority of the Hazara, which has been suffering from severe oppression for years. “There are already first indications that radical Sunnis are carrying the escalating tensions between Sunni Saudi Arabia and predominantly Shiite Iran into Pakistan, trying to force the Shiites out of the country,” said the STP’s Asia-consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Tuesday. “In the Hazara-district of Quetta, unknown attackers shot two policemen in broad daylight on Monday. This murder might mark the beginning of a new wave of violence, because the radical Sunnis in Pakistan are ignoring the fact that the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran is about political power, not a religious dispute.”

According to the STP, the killings of the two policemen can be seen as related to a series of violent crimes against Shiites in Pakistan. In November 2015, Sunni extremists murdered six Hazara. On October 19, 2015, eleven Hazara got killed in an attack on a bus in Quetta. 22 people were injured. In the first five months of 2015 alone, there were 42 terrorist attacks against the Shiite minority. Several hundred people lost their lives or were injured. The worst wave of violence took place between November 2012 and July 2014, with a total number of 359 assaults by Sunni extremists against Shiites in Pakistan. 833 members of the religious minority got killed and 1,221 people were injured.
For the Hazara, the violence is not only life-threatening; it is also a massive violation of their religious freedom. They are accusing the authorities of half-hearted attempts to restrain the radical Sunni organizations.

There are about 600,000 Hazara living in Quetta, which is why it is seen as the main settlement area of the ethnic and religious minority (which originates from Afghanistan). In Afghanistan, the Hazara are often attacked by the radical Islamic Taliban. Around 95 percent of Pakistan’s 190 million inhabitants are Muslims, among them a Shiite minority of 25 percent. The Christians, Ahmadiyya Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Bahai’i are suffering from attacks by the Sunni extremists and are discriminated against by the authorities as well.

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