12/30/2015 Terrorism is Threatening the Syncretic Tradition of Sindh | The Wire

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Terrorism isThreatening theSyncreticTradition of SindhBY VEENGAS ON 29/12/2015 • LEAVE A COMMENT

It is not as if my motherland has turnedconservative or that peace has failed. If anythinghas failed, it is the state which is refusing toprotect its own citizens

Lakhi Darr, Shikarpur. Credit: YouTube

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

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Jacobabad, Sindh (Pakistan): Sindh has a rich history ofreligious tolerance and love. Before Partition, Shikarpur was an

important economic hub, and was even known as the Paris of the

region (http://www.dawn.com/news/1089615). In the recent past, Zia ul

Haq tried but failed to launch mujahideen extremists here.

Sindh has traditionally been a centre of Sufism. But in 2015, two

deadly terrorist attacks on Shias – in Shikarpur in January

(http://www.dawn.com/news/1160444) and Jacobabad in October

(http://www.dawn.com/news/1215268) – have shaken the confidence of

the people and in particular the minorities.

Jundallah claimed responsibility for the first incident while it was

the Lashkar­e­Jhangvi which claimed credit for the second. Both

organisations are supposedly being decimated by the Pakistani

army in Operation Zarb­e­Azb (https://www.ispr.gov.pk/zarbeazb),

launched in 2014 and directed against different militant

groups. Some 60 people died in the Shikarpur Lakhi Darr

imambargah, while 24 people were killed in the bombing of the

Jacobabad muharram procession.

Shikarpur is my hometown, and Sindh is my province. So after the

Jacobabad incident, I decided to go from Karachi to Jacobabad and

Shikarpur to write about the rise of terrorism there. A local

journalist tried to dissuade me, saying I could get all the

information I needed on the phone. “Of course, I can,” I thought to

myself, “but these cities are mine too, why shouldn’t I come?”

In my lifetime, I have not seen anyone differentiate between Shia

and Sunni. Indeed, Shias are an integral part of Pakistani society

and Hindus often join Shia religious events. Why is it that Shias are

being targeted in Sindh, I asked myself. When I entered Sukkur

and Shikarpur, I saw many mosques and men with long beards

walking about early in the morning. What is the need for so many

mosques, I thought. Wouldn’t one or two be enough?

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Allama Maqsood Domki. Credit: Veengas

A Shia leader speaks

When I reached Jacobabad, I approached Allama Maqsood Domki

(http://english.mwmpak.org/index.php/ur/explore/balochistan/item/209­

allama­maqsood­domki­presents­12­proposals­to­ig­police­for­peace­in­

balochistan), Shia scholar and secretary general of the Majlis­e­

Wahdat­e­Muslimeen

(http://english.mwmpak.org/index.php/ur/explore/balochistan) (MWM)

Balochistan, a political party which works for the protection of

Shias and for Shia­Sunni unity. Allama Domki has been actively

looking into the terrorist incidents and undertook a long march in

the wake of the terrorist attack in Shikarpur. The area around his

house seemed undeveloped. I couldn’t find any school other than a

madrassa. Two security guards guided me to his place. Domki

came to the door and greeted us. At the room he uses to welcome

guests, known in Sindhi as an ‘Otaaq’, the walls have posters of

Ayatollah Khomeini.

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I asked Domki what he thought was the reason behind the attacks

on Shias in Sindh.

“It is the arming of the mujahideen against Russia in Afghanistan

that has led to today’s terrorism problem. Terrorism is planted

because they want to divide common people in Sindh, Balochistan,

Punjab – between Pathans, Punjabis, Sunni­Shia etc.”

I said that it was easy to criticise the US, but the fact is that Muslim

countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran are also divided and fighting

each other.

Domki responded: “Yes, divide and rule is the oldest policy. The

Saudis promoted Wahhabism and supported the mujahideen.

Since day one we have opposed them; the Shias did not take part in

Saudi­funded jihad. This jihad has had three phases: In the first,

Pakistan fully participated in supporting the mujahideen and

assumed that it could make Afghanistan into the fifth province of

Pakistan. When Pakistan cannot hold even four provinces, how

does it think it can manage a fifth? Then there was Al Qaeda and

Osama Bin Laden; the third phase is that of Daesh – the Saudis

brought together terrorists from 80 countries to attack the shrine

of Hazrat Zainab (in Damascus). It was only when Daesh attacked

the Saudis that Imam Kaba declared that Daesh was a terrorist

organization (http://nation.com.pk/national/26­Apr­2015/daesh­taliban­

have­no­link­with­islam­imam­e­kaaba). In Pakistan, those who fed

snakes (meaning the Pakistan establishment and army) will find

that tomorrow the snakes will kill their own masters, he said,

echoing Hillary Clinton’s famous advice to the leaders

of Pakistan: “You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect

them only to bite your neighbours.”

Complicity of the state

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I asked Domki which organisations were supporting terrorist

attacks in Balochistan and Sindh.

“In Balochistan, the Pakistani state has given a green signal to

terrorist organisations to divert attention from the Baloch freedom

movement. Some Pakistani institutes are thinking if they allow

religious terrorist groups in Balochistan, then they can weaken

the movement for freedom. I want to tell them that this is a big

mistake. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had “Sarhadi Gandhi” (Khan Abdul

Ghaffar Khan (http://www.britannica.com/biography/Khan­Abdul­Ghaffar­

Khan)), whose ideas were unacceptable to the Pakistani state, and

now you can see that the leader of the National Awami Party,

Asfandyar Wali Khan cannot walk freely due to threats of

terrorism. The Baloch, who should follow Akhtar Mengal (leader of

the Balochistan National Party), are now following Mulla Ramzaan

Mengal and Haji Mengal of the banned terrorist Ahle­Sunnat wal

Jamaat (ASWJ). (http://tribune.com.pk/story/511807/quetta­tense­seven­

aswj­activists­injured­in­firing/) The ASWJ and Lashkar­e­Jhangvi both

have a green signal from the Pakistani state”, said Domki.

Does the same formula apply to Sindh? I asked. “I do not think so,”

he responded, “because Balochistan’s movement is very active,

unlike Sindh’s. I request all organisations to unite against

terrorism otherwise we will lose the Sindh of (Sufi poets) Bhitai

(Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai) and Sachal.”

“From Shikarpur to Karachi, the banners and flags of banned

terrorist organisations are everywhere and they are delivering hate

speeches in madrassas. Apex committees and National Action Plan

are dramas.” Domki pointed to the reported links between the

Muslim League government both in Punjab and at the Centre,

especially Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, with extremists groups.

He was also critical of the Pakistan People’s Party but appreciated

Bilawal Bhutto’s courageous condemnation of terrorist

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organisations.

I asked Domki about the role of madrassas. “Sindh’s borders are

connected to Balochistan and Saudi funding has come to

madrassas in Sindh. While some Deobandi madrassas are good,

other Deobandi madrassas are giving terrorists training. Such

madrassas are now found across Sindh – in Shikarpur, Jacobabad,

Qamber Shahdadkot and elsewhere. The Apex Committee

(http://ppinewsagency.com/199082/%EF%BB%BFapex­committees­formed­to­

implement­national­action­plan/) has a list of 48 religious seminaries

with links to terror groups: why doesn’t the government make this

public? Whenever the state takes action on madrassas then the

Jamiat Ulema­e­Islam (JUI) comes on the road protesting. The

government needs to look into JUI’s role.”

And what happened to your agreement with the Sindh Government

(http://www.thefrontierpost.pk/sindh­govt­fails­to­implement­accord­to­curb­

extremism­sac/) (to root out terrorism) after your long march?, I

asked Domki. He responded by saying that the Sindh government

was “non­serious”: “We have been protesting, complaining and

issuing statements for 10 months. No one pays attention to us.”

When I asked Domki about allegations that some external force

was supporting the Shia community, he was slightly angered and

said: “We have not done any violent act in revenge and are only

asking for justice. This is my city and country; I do not want to

disturb it. We are receiving dead bodies and in return we ask for

justice.”

Suspicious foreigners in Jacobabad

After interviewing Domki, I went to the place in Jacobabad where

the terrorist incident had occurred. The street was narrow and the

area undeveloped. I met with families at the dargah. They were in

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grief at losing their little children. The majority of those killed had

been children. They complained that when the Peshawar school

terror incident happened, the media reported on it, but nobody

protested when the children of Jacobabad were killed. I then met

with Bande Ali Jaffari, a leader of Tehreek­e­Jaffari responsible for

the Shia community in Jacobabad. He complained that the local

police did not provide them proper security even after they had

shown them threatening letters from the LeJ. They had observed

suspicious activities by Chechens and Uzebks settling in Shia areas

and posing as labourers and complained to the police, but the

police did not follow up. Jaffari said that foreigners were buying up

land in Jacobabad, pushing up prices. They were willing to pay 50

lakh for land costing 20 lakh. He estimated that there were around

50,000 foreigners in the area.

I also met with local citizens and activists who supported Jaffari’s

view that the terrorism was being fomented by outsiders –

Afghans, Uzbeks, Chechens – and banned terrorist groups working

through madrassas. While local tribal chiefs or sardars may

support criminal activities (http://tribune.com.pk/story/11151/politics­

police­and­patronage/) in order to maintain power, they would not

support anti­Shia terrorism.

The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Jacobabad Sajid

Hussain Khokhar claimed that the police was providing full

security to the Shia community. “Shikarpur and Jacobabad borders

are connected with Balochistan’s areas which are already

disturbed. On madrassas, we do not have any information about

their involvement in terrorist activities.”

Insecurity in Shikarpur

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Karbala Maula Lakhi Dar4 in Shikarpur

After spending a whole day in Jacobabad, I traveled to Shikarpur. I

wanted to meet the journalist Nasim Bukhari, who was victimised

in the wake of his reporting on terrorism for a local magazine. He

was wrongly quoted by the magazine, after which a religious group

had filed a Rs. 50 lakh defamation suit against him. Bukhari finally

managed to solve the problem by writing a letter of explanation to

the religious parties. His greatest sorrow was that the journalists’

community, political parties and activists did not support him. He

too blamed the madrassas: “I know that a maulvi delivered a

speech in a madrassa saying ‘if you kill one Shia you kill 10 kafirs’.”

Do such people enjoy, political support? I asked. “Yes, the JUI is

the mother of these madrassas but I do not want to blame all

members of JUI”, he replied.

I went to the Lakhi Darr imambargah in Shikarpur. The person in

charge said their case was being handled by Domki. He added,

“The Sindh government helped us but they did not fulfil all their

promises. We are still facing threats; the Jacobabad blast was a

clear message. We complained about people who may have been

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involved in terror activities, but the government has not taken any

action against them and they still live near the dargah.”

The sun was setting as I headed back to Karachi. I wanted to take a

little rest and drink tea at Diwan Hotel, famous in Shikarpur since

my childhood. While sipping tea, I reflected on the Sufi/bhakti

tradition of Sindh, and the danger that terrorists could destroy its

soul of peace and love. I looked around the shop where everyone

was drinking tea and eating sweets. I was sitting among them

without covering my head with a dupatta, and no one paid

attention to me. I realised then that it is not as if this land has

turned conservative, or that peace has failed. If anything has failed,

it is the state which is refusing to protect its own citizens.

Veengas is a journalist based in Karachi, Pakistan. She was bornin Shikarpur.

Categories: External Affairs (http://thewire.in/category/external­affairs/), Featured(http://thewire.in/category/featured/), South Asia (http://thewire.in/category/external­affairs/south­asia/), Terrorism (http://thewire.in/category/terrorism/)

Tagged as: Ahle­Sunnat wal Jamaat (http://thewire.in/tag/ahle­sunnat­wal­jamaat/),Asfandyar Wali Khan (http://thewire.in/tag/asfandyar­wali­khan/), Jacobabad(http://thewire.in/tag/jacobabad/), Jamiat Ulema­e­Islam (http://thewire.in/tag/jamiat­ulema­

e­islam/), Jundallah (http://thewire.in/tag/jundallah/), Lashkar­e­Jhangvi

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