Shi'ite attacks pave way for rapid
responses By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - Tuesday's attacks on Shi'ite
worshippers in two locations in Iraq and one in Pakistan
occurred almost simultaneously, but while there is no
evidence that they were connected, the fallout could
have similar results: a free hand for security forces to
go after members of the Iraq and Afghan resistance
movements.
In Iraq, the death toll has risen to
over 180 from synchronized suicide bombings and missile
attacks on Shi'ites in the holy city of Karbala and the
capital Baghdad, while at least 41 people were killed
and more than 150 injured in the southwest Pakistan city
of Quetta in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) when
gunmen raked a procession of Shi'ite worshippers with
machine-gun fire, lobbed grenades and then blew
themselves up.
In Pakistan, as in Iraq, the
worshippers were marking the festival of Ashura, the
climax of the Muslim holy month of Muharram.
The
Iraqi incidents have mostly been blamed on al-Qaeda,
while in Pakistan suspicion has fallen on the outlawed
Sunni group Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, which has traditionally
attacked Shi'ites in Pakistan. Shi'ites account for
about 20 percent of Pakistan's 145 million people (in
Iraq, Shi'ites form the dominant bloc, at about 60
percent).
Sacred ceremony The majority
of the population in countries such as India, Pakistan
and Iraq practice a version of Islam which is
traditional and in tune with local tribal customs and
traditions. In the modern age, this is termed non-Salafi
Islam, as opposed to the extreme interpretation of
Wahhabi Islam, for example, as espoused by Osama bin
Laden and al-Qaeda.
Muslims of the sub-continent
and Iraq have a tradition of mourning the martyrdom of
Hussein on Ashura, the 10th day of the Muharram month.
This is when, in the 7th century, Hussein, a grandson of
the Prophet Mohammed, was assassinated by the army of
Yazid, the Umyaid ruler.
It should be noted that
on the day of Ashura, notably in Iraq, India and
Pakistan, Muslims, both Shi'ite and Sunni, take part in
processions. There is a difference, though, as Shi'ites
whip and torture themselves in sympathy with the killing
of Hussein, Sunnis do not in their Tazia
(mourning) processions.
In Pakistan's NWFP and
Balochistan provinces, though, the population follows a
version of Islam (Deobandis) closer to the Salafi
version, and Sunnis in these regions never participate
in the Ashura mourning rituals.
Pakistan has a
long history of conflict between Shi'ites and Sunnis,
resulting in hundreds of deaths over the years, as
opposed to Iraq, where such sectarian violence between
the two branches of Islam is highly unusual - there were
a few isolated events in 1991 in Basra after the Gulf
War.
In Pakistan, last July, for example, about
50 Shi'ites were killed in a suicide attack in a mosque
in Quetta. Investigations revealed collusion between
internal and external elements, but there was no proof
of Taliban involvement.
A few weeks after this
incident, this correspondent spoke with a member of the
Balochistan national assembly and chief of the
Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam, Quetta - Maulana Noor Mohammed -
in his seminary in Quetta.
At the time,
Pakistan's interior minister was blaming India's
Research and Analysis Wing and Afghan intelligence, but
Noor Mohammed argued that the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was
involved. He maintained that many of this group's
activists had been jailed, but were released as part of
President General Pervez Musharraf's political maneuvers
to get his man, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, appointed as
prime minister.
"It is on record that we wrote
letters to the federal government and provincial home
departments that the release of these killers would
result in sectarian violence, but given the political
ambitions of the Musharraf government, our protests were
not heeded," said Noor Mohammed.
The latest
Quetta incident has happened at a time when military
operations on both the Afghan and Pakistan sides of the
border are under way to root out Taliban, al-Qaeda and
Afghan resistance members. Pakistani troops have been
active on their side, especially in the tribal areas of
NWFP, where they have roused local people against them
(See Asia Times Online Pakistan stirs a
tribal war, Mar 3). The attacks on the
Shi'ites will now provide Pakistan's security forces a
clear reason to conduct operations in sensitive areas
that otherwise would have been difficult.
The
Iraqi divide Following the US-led occupation of
Iraq and the toppling of the Sunni-centric Ba'ath Party
of Saddam Hussein, the issue of a Shi'ite-Sunni divide
and possible war between them has been widely discussed.
In forming the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, the US
ensured that Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds received
proportional representation.
Yet, as mentioned
above, clashes between Shi'ites and Sunnis in Iraq are
unusual, although Saddam could possibly be said to have
kept a lid on things. Nevertheless, the residents of
Baghdad and Basra and the likes are generally able to
think beyond their particular religious beliefs.
Many in Iraq, particularly the US, have been
quick to point to Jordanian militant Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi in connection with Tuesday's attacks. They
cite a purported letter from him to al-Qaeda that
surfaced on a computer disc recently in which he calls
for al-Qaeda assistance in stirring up Shi'ite-Sunni
conflict in Iraq. Interestingly, the US appears to have
overlooked that in the past it has linked Zarqawi to the
Lebanese Hezbollah, saying that he has taken refuge in
Lebanon and that he enjoys a special relationship with
the Shi'ite leadership of Hezbollah. Suddenly, a
pro-Shi'ite "Sunni extremist" has turned into an
anti-Shi'ite "Sunni extremist".
Nevertheless,
the latest attacks provide the coalition forces with
good reason - like their Pakistani counterparts - to go
after the resistance in Iraq with renewed vigor,
especially in the Sunni triangle of Baghdad, Mosul and
Tikrit.
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