Muharram to Milad: Growing Sectarian Polarisation in Pakistan

On the first Sunday of 2014, Sunni Ittehad Council, a political party which represents the Barelvi Muslims of Pakistan and another political party Majlis-e-Wahadat Muslimeen (MWM), which represents the minority Shia population, got together in a convention in Islamabad and formed a patriot alliance.  The two parties declared that they would jointly celebrate Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of the Prophet, even at the cost of their lives, to show their reverence to the noble occasion.  Many in the Pakistani media have projected it as coming together of Sunnis and Shias to celebrate an important festival.  However, a careful analysis indicates that the Islamabad declaration by the two groups is nothing but an attempt by two beleaguered religious communities to forge a unity against the attacks, both physical and ideological emanating from aggressive radical Wahhabi and Deobandi seminaries.  The two groups have pledged to fight anti-Islam and anti-Pakistan forces and have dubbed the Nawaz Sharif Government in Islamabad as the political face of the Taliban.  This statement shows their discomfort with Taliban and the government’s acquiescence to its radical onslaught.

Barelvis constitute a clear majority amongst Sunni Muslims in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh.  However, for quite some time they have been at the receiving end of relentless violence against their shrines and practices being launched from numerically smaller, but organisationally more cohesive Deobandi and Wahhabi militant groups. Not only have various Sufi shrines across Pakistan been attacked, but even their hereditary Pirs have been targeted.  Similarly, the Milad-un-Nabi processions taken out by Barelvi Muslims have been fired at from Deobandi mosques, as both Deobandis and Wahhabis consider the celebrations as unIslamic.  Before the festival, SMS texts were circulated telling people that it was Bida’ah (innovation) and hence forbidden to celebrate Milad. Consequently, Pakistan has been switching off mobile services in major towns during Milad-un-Nabi. In 2013, the cellular services remained suspended in most parts of Sindh and Baluchistan and in 28 districts of Punjab on Milad-un-Nabi. There were also two blasts in Karachi, which killed four and injured fifteen others on this auspicious day. Despite these provocations, Barelvis have not been able to challenge the radical Deobandi and Wahhabi organisation as they are divided and owe their loyalties to different Pirs and Gaddinashins (hereditary custodians of various Sufi shrines).

Similarly, Shias in Pakistan have been repeatedly targeted by Deobandi and Wahhabi sectarian outfits as well as Taliban. Consequently, in 2013 around 600 Shias were killed and around 1000 injured across Pakistan in sectarian attacks.  Shia places of worship, Shia pilgrims and Shia eminent personalities have been the usual targets. Besides Shia processions like Chelhum and Ashura processions have been targeted. On 15 November 2013, Shia procession on 10^th of Muharram was pelted with stones near a Deobandi mosque in the garrison city of Rawalpindi that resulted in large scale bloodshed and violence.    Investigations have revealed that Deobandi youth were mobilised through social media to prevent the Ashura procession from passing through peacefully. Although mobile phone services had been suspended in 80 sensitive cities both on 9^th and 10^th of Muharram, the violence could not be prevented across Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Many cities in Punjab and KP were placed under curfew and the garrison city of Rawalpindi, which houses Pakistan Army’s headquarters, remained under curfew for a week.  Shias have tried to retaliate in places where they are strong, but their numerical weakness has prevented them from effectively countering the armed militants of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Sipah-e-Sahiba Pakistan,  which has metamorphosed itself as Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ). More significantly the State has often provided tacit support to many of the anti-Shia outfits. 

The attempts by the two groups to come together could pose a tough challenge to hitherto unchallenged Wahhabi and Deobandi militant groups. The two parties, which had also managed to get a few minority leaders to this joint convention not only affirmed their commitment to celebrating Milad together, but also proclaimed that no restriction on Muharram and Milad processions would be tolerated.  They also criticised the government’s attempts to talk to the Taliban and said that they would not allow anyone to “forgive the killers of martyrs, who are actually the enemies of Pakistan and will never let them achieve their nefarious objectives.” They also agreed that violation of Pakistan’s Constitution and foreign interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs will not be allowed. They also asked the government not to talk to the terrorists, but to deal with them with a firm hand. 

The chief of another Barelvi outfit Sunni Tehrik (ST) Muhammad Sarwat Ejaz Qadri, proclaimed on the same day in Nishtar Park, Karachi that they would never allow anyone to make another East Pakistan. He also said that the foreign policy of Pakistan was being dictated by America, Saudi Arabia and other countries, whereas the government was negotiating with those who did not acknowledge Pakistan’s Constitution or the parliament.  This was possibly the first time that a Sunni outfit publicly castigated the Saudis for their interference in Pakistan. He also asserted that the terrorists had a complete hold on judiciary and other institutions.  He urged the state to ban ASWJ and said that the state had become so helpless that this banned organisation with a changed name was working freely and spreading sectarian hatred, but no one had the power to fix them. He stated that ST had lost 63 leaders and workers, including two on Sunday itself, yet it had not deviated from propagating peace, love and fraternity and upholding the rule of law.  He however, said that if the culprits were not arrested they would stage a sit-in outside the CM House and the Governor House

The coming together of Barelvis and Shias shows their level of exasperation. A large number of Barelvis have of late started listening to the Deobandi point of view as Deobandi madaris have been churning out ulema by the hundreds and many major mosques were now under Deobandi clerics. However, if this new found unity is sustained, it could provide a stiff resistance to the onward march of the Taliban backed by Deobandi ideology and force the government to take a tougher stance against the sectarian outfits like ASWJ and their backers the Taliban.

The author is a Senior Fellow at CLAWS

Views expressed are personal