How many will it be this year?

Last year it was 400. This year it has already reached 200.

Last Sunday a bomb ripped through Karachi killing nearly 40 Shia Muslims, injuring 200. Already this year, over 200 Shias have been killed by bombs in Pakistan. In February, Dr Syed Ali Haider and his 11 year old son were killed while driving in Lahore. Dr Haider, a leading eye specialist, was shot six times in the head. According to his uncle, he had “no personal enmity”. His killing was sectarian-motivated as he belonged to the Shia community. It was widely condemned.

As I scanned the internet for reasons behind this violence, I came across Mohammed Zaidi’s commentary. He explains the ‘big’ difference between Sunni and Shia in the Pakistani tradition:

“The big difference between the two ‘sects’ here has always been where we put our hands during the recitation of Surah Fatiha during salaat. Many Pakistanis of my generation can readily remember a time when they didn’t even know what Sunni or Shia was….”

It is tragic that the country is being destabilised because of well-financed international efforts by certain countries wanting to promote ideologies that devalue certain groups of people.

Mohammed Zaidi gives some practical suggestions for ways forward in Pakistan. How can we respond overseas?

1. Prayer: Many of us have seen God regularly work in ways that are beyond what we could achieve ourselves. He can untangle these problems, even if it seems humanly impossible. So let’s pray.

2. Jesus Christ taught that we should “love others as we love ourselves”. His disciple, Paul, taught that we should treat others as better, more important than ourselves. So just as we would protest against injustices against our own communities in Pakistan, we should do the same for other communities. If we protest for women’s right to education in Pakistan, which is very important, how much more should we stand for people to have the right to live safely?

3.  Jesus also taught that “the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” This means that people are more valuable than the religious activities they practice. We need to look at our own lives and make sure we’re not acting inhumanely towards others in the name of God.

Suneel Shivdasani

Photo: by Mohamed CJ – Pakistani Shia Muslims in Bahrain striking their chests to celebrate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain