Tuesday 19 February 2013

The Dharna is not Shia!


Yesterday I spent 12 hours at the Dharna at Teen Talwar, Clifton, against the Shia genocide. At the time of writing, the Dharna is still underway and it has been over 24 hours since its start now.

When I joined the Dharna at Bilawal House last month, I had arrived 10 hours after the proceedings had started. The place was already packed with thousands of Shia protesters and being a Sunni I was intimidated. The repeated chants of “Labaik Ya Hussian” and “Ya Ali” were deafening and frightening. I was confused whether I should join in as I actually pondered if these chants were blasphemous.

I felt alienated listening to various references to the Imams who aren’t discussed in our mainstream curriculum.  Speaker after speaker made references to how the Shia population was a target, how they were the oppressed, how they were the victims. I felt frustrated thinking that the Quetta bombing was first and foremost a human tragedy, a national tragedy so why wasn’t it being treated as one.

I looked around and found the answer. If the protest was not a national protest, then why should I expect the victims to be identified as Pakistanis. If the organizers were Shia and the vast majority of protesters were Shia then why shouldn’t they have the right to highlight their victimization at a sectarian level.

Belonging to the majority sect of Pakistan, it was embarrassing to find myself in the minority in this protest.

At that time I realized that I was not intimidated because the Shias were hostile or unfriendly upon learning about my sect. In fact every Shia who learnt about my identity, came forward, shook my hand and thanked me for coming. The fear crept from inside from my deep rooted bias which is instilled in most Sunni children as how Shias secretly hate Sunnis. Sadly, the opposite appeared to be true.


Hence, this time I had made a point to be at the Dharna from the very start and encouraged all my Sunni friends to do the same. When I arrived along with my friends, there were just three people standing on Teen Talwar looking in all directions trying to spot co-protesters. We walked up and joined in. People drove by paying no attention. 10 more people joined in, but the bystanders appeared unbothered. Suddenly, I heard someone scream at the top of their voice “Naray-e-Haideri!”. The cars slowed down, the traffic Police took notice. I turned around to find that the voice was not of a Shia protestor, but of my friend, Nadir, a Sunni. I couldn’t hold back the smile on my face. What started with 3, reached the strength of close to 3000 in a few hours.


This lot of protestors appeared more mature and well aware than that at Bilawal House. This time slogans were not chanted against America but against Taliban. Western Powers were not blamed for sectarian violence, but Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba were bluntly blamed. This Dharna was not in denial. They were willing to accept that terrorism is a home grown problem.


Protesters stopped chanting “tum kitnay shia maro gey?” and asked “tum kitnay insaan maro gey?”

The goods things from the Bilawal House Dharna were also carried forward here and one had to be there to note those finer details. Teenage boys who were risking their lives by volunteering as security guards (unarmed), then there were volunteers who had made a makeshift kitchen and were serving tea, then there were those who were distributing juices, biscuits and biryanis, then there volunteers as young as 5 and as old as 70 carrying out trash bags collecting used paper cups and wrappers. No public or private property was allowed to be damaged. In all of those volunteers there were lessons to be learnt; the lesson of selflessness, the lesson of civic responsibility, the lesson of unconditional patriotism and the lesson of community.

Unfortunately, one sad fact also remained common between both Dharnas. Sunnis were again a minority. And now I want to ask the Sunni readers why? Why is Hazara killings not our concern? Why is Shia genocide not our concern? If it is then where were the Sunni Protesters? Why did we let this Dharna be reduced to a Shia protest too? Does only the death of a Sunni boy or girl has the exclusive privilege of being reported as a Pakistani death?

For those Sunni readers who really aren’t bothered about a Shia death, they should know that not all Hazaras who died in the bomb blasts were Shia.  

Every single time such a tragedy takes place the ignorance of the Sunnis results in only more ridicule for Pakistan at the international level as we expose to the world how polarized and inhumane we are that we cannot even condemn terrorism and loss of innocent lives as one united nation. But at home, the damage is worse. We make our Shia countrymen realize that they are alone. We tell them that we will celebrate 14th August together, that we will dance on the streets upon our cricketing victories together, that in the good times we will be there, but that’s where the brotherhood stops. In the time of mourning and against threat you are alone. At most, we will extend our sympathies on social networking websites.

Attending the protest as a Sunni did not make me a better Pakistani, but what did sitting at home and just updating your facebook status against the genocide made you?

There were thousands of Pakistani students who took part in the “Occupy University” Campaign in England in 2008 in protest against Israeli occupation of Gaza. Sadly, most of them choose to sit at home now because apparently Palestinians are more Pakistani than Hazaras.

Step up and step out. Be a part of something. Make the protest Pakistani. Make this tragedy Pakistani. Make the demands Pakistani. Make yourself Pakistani.



I end with the poetry I recited at the Dharna highlighting not just the impotence of the Government against these atrocities but also the ignorance of the majority of Pakistanis not willing to come out on the streets for active protests.


37 comments:

  1. You are living in a country heading towards Sunni radicalization, where everyone who is not a follower of the ultra right wing Sunni school of thought is an inferior being, and where members of other sects are seen as bugs and their deaths as bug splats. If you remember when Governor Tasseer got assassinated, only a handful of people came out in demonstration, while a large number showered the murderer with flowers. Many people in Pakistan also hate General Musharaf solely for the reason he wasn't a religious man hence incompetant to rule Pakistan. And why is the President not proactive, he is after all from the Shia school of thought also.

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    1. Musharraf is NOT a Shia. This is a false claim that somehow still makes its rounds around the internet years later :S

      The only reason these rumors were falsely started was because of his small efforts to try and harbor unity in Pakistan.

      His father is sunni, his mother followed Ahmadiyya, he himself is a sunni.

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    2. Dear Lakshar-e-Jangvi,

      The founding father of your beloved Pakistan was a Shia Muslim.

      Problem?

      Delete
  2. Hundreds of sunni scholars, students and teachers of Madaris have been murdered, but there has been abosolutely no media coverage let alone a "dharna". It is no secret that the military high ups, even our President is a shia, this menace is going on right under their noses. Why no one stands up for sunni deaths. Further, when a sunni scholar is killed, he is referred as a Pakistani, whereas when a shia is killed he is reffered as a shia? Why the difference. There are forces which are deliberately dividing us.

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    1. you're an idiot.

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    2. Anonymous19 February 2013 06:27

      Hundreds of sunni scholars, students and teachers of Madaris have been murdered, but there has been abosolutely no media coverage let alone a "dharna". It is no secret that the military high ups, even our President is a shia, this menace is going on right under their noses. Why no one stands up for sunni deaths. Further, when a sunni scholar is killed, he is referred as a Pakistani, whereas when a shia is killed he is reffered as a shia? Why the difference. There are forces which are deliberately dividing us.


      Correct

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    3. brother, no sunni is killed because of secterian voilence, they also victim of same group of people who are funded by saudia arab, russia, india, israel
      They are against pakistan this reason they called pakistani died when sunni person died.
      my question to you..... why we dont say pakistani die when shia is murdered ? why we exclude them and dont think they are our people?
      about high end.. so please open your heart and accept them as pakistani first
      after all muhammed ali jinah him self was shia but a founder of pakistan
      we should feel we belong to same religion and follow our prophet saw teachings

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    4. Just for your information president of Pakistan is not a shia. His wife Benazir Bhutto was a half shia on her mothers side.

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    5. How come General Kayani and General Zaheerul Islam are Shia? You are a moron.

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  3. I think what you are doing is great - it's allowing an opportunity for Sunnis to see how untrue Shia stereotypes are. Additionally, it's providing a voice for the atrocious crimes occurring against Shias. I hope that this will be an opportunity for Pakistan to unite as a country and stand up for a minority group which is being unjustly targeted.

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  4. I believe the president is not of Shia school of thought, not even a muslim school of thought, he probably is of Jewish school of thought....all on his mind is how to coax money and make more money, deceive, etc.....probably scammed people into thinking so to get near the family of Bhutto who were shia's I think...
    Anyway....it is mass murder of Muslims who are being killed by mechanical terrorists, whose functioning are based on commands...
    All humans should protest and the protest should be to eradicate the LEJ and other so called religious groups who work on and are being funded by sources to create instability in the country…they were created decades ago by the military with international help and now are being preserved with judicial help by the CJ…. We need an “Operation clean-up” the sooner the better…Musharaf was capable of doing it and did with Azam Tariq…..but may not any more.
    The current Chief of Army Staff is a dummy like the rest..… even if the military does takeover…nothing will get better as they will not do nothing!!!

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  5. Respect... I specially salute Nadir

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  6. Just to answer the writers initial query "Labayk ya Hussain" means "we are at your service Hussein", or more informally that we stand with his cause and what he believed in. It does not say we are only at his service or at his service above all else, so its not at all blasphemous. Great article good to see Pakistanis uniting this way, now we just need to extend this to standing up for every minority including Christians, Hindus and Ahmedis. Each and everyone is a Pakistani and more importantly a fellow human, and not one life killed from religious intolerance should be just quietly accepted

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  7. Respect Brother!

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  8. Thank you for writing this post.For someone who has lost family and friends in the hatred of sectarianism,i felt comforted to know that not all sunnis harbor this hatred towards the shias and are not completely immune to the reality of this genocide.If only more people would share your opinion...

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  9. Giving Birth in a Shia home does not make you a shia. Its your doings in the daily life that matters. Same applies to Zardari if he was born in a shia home.He shouled be ashamed of even calling himself a Muslim.

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  10. Thank you Pakistani youngesters !!!!
    This is a great step you write on this matter, being Pakistani we all should stand out to favor DHARNA against terrorists to cut out their roots from Pakistan to keep the peace in our country,
    otherwise a time came when nobody will be safe in this country so all of the youngesters who read it please come out of homes and join in this protest to save humanity and to save Pakistan. in future.
    Thank you again.

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  11. Simply Amazing!

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  12. First of all this is poignant piece of writing, which I will take the liberty to share at many forums.
    As regards, some comments above, yes a lot more Sunnis are being killed than Shias. Some of them for being religious leaders. However, Shias’ killing is genocide because Shias are being apostatized and targeted indiscriminately by LeJ and SSP merely for being Shias.
    I have written a number of essays on this topic, which have been published and are also on my blog. I am appending one below for anyone who wants to discuss why this is termed as genocide. I remain available to answer any legal, moral, and ethical question. While criticism and differences are a way of learning, bigotry is inhuman.
    Also yes, Shia stereotypes and those who unduly look up to Iran are a small minority. Most of the Shias are quite ‘normal Pakistanis’ like most of the Sunnis.


    http://masrif.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103:denying-the-genocide-will-not-help-by-az&catid=39:blog&Itemid=58

    Also here are two posts from the FB.

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=555884057763757&set=a.101847673167400.4233.100000265045154&type=1&theater

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=555803937771769&set=a.555803894438440.127499.100000265045154&type=1&theater

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  13. Allah has granted the Shia Muslims of Quetta another victory.

    Thanks to Allah.

    www.facebook.com/pages/British-Shias/406872082732311

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  14. I really like you thoughts and concern for the country. We should not see ourselves as sunni or shia but as Pakistani and as humans. Its about time that we should hold our own government responsible for the mess and not others. This may be our last chance to make a come back as a nation. I request all Pakistani to teach their kids tolerance and respect for everyone. There is no other path to move ahead. We really need more people to think like you. I have never told my kids what sect they belong to but have taught them to respect all humans.

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  15. Well Done Mr. Jibran I am quite impressed with your ability to write and i have heard your poem as well. For and instant I thought you are a Shia and i hadn't much reacted to the thought that someone who isn't Shia can actually write something that may compel us to applaud.

    But that was sincere and to let you know we usually dont comprehend feelings with applause in situations like these but that was an unintentional much deserved applause. I am surprise to see Shia and Sunni youngsters emerging as a single nation which is a healthy sign for the coming generations who may not witness hatred among their elders.

    Last but not Least...the philosphy of these chants "Labbaik Ya Hussain or RasoolAllah","Ya Ali", "Allah O'Akbar" is that it may scare the hell out of those who hold grudges against our belief and bring closer those who are keen to love. We use them as lethal weapon against enemies and a force of unity among ourselves.

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  16. JazakAllah for all your well wishes.

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  17. Nasir! I often wondered how the people here could ever be made to realise the wonderful potential of this country. I now know the answer. It is the likes of you Nasir, your friend Nadir and others who would reach for the torch. Carry it through to the end. Dont let go. A message for the rest of us too.

    Aye ye Hazaras, Dr. Haider, Innocent and beautiful Murtaza! Hark this. You now have Nasirs and Nadirs by your side. What better reward could your Shahadat might have brought about? Pakistan Zindabad.
    Let us salute their families too. 'Tumharey sabr ko Salam!'

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  18. A great read ! RESPECT !!

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  19. Very good article. The irony is that the Government is not treating all these incidents as ethnic cleansing. Muslims from a particular sect are being murdered by another sect of Muslims. How pathetic is that?
    I personally know two families whose loved ones are killed after verifying the names. Shias like me have signature names one can easily identify us that we are belong to Shia sect.

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  20. Only if mainstream sunnis start protesting these killings, we will keep calling this 'Shia' killings. I see it this way, all Pakistanis who are being killed in name of Islam are not Shia, however most Pakistani who are being murdered in name of Islam are Shias.
    Imam Hussain(as) took a stand against tyranny in the name of God. So Labbak Ya Hussain simply means we are with you O'Hussain. The Imam called on the day of Ashura, 'Hul Min Nasir, Yul Sur Na', ie who will help me. And believe me he was not just calling the Shia people, he was calling anyone who will stand against tyranny.

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  21. So proud of u for writing this article..all what we need at this time is to stand together as one and be there for each other at all times. God Bless you!!!!

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  22. amazing God bless u

    Step up and step out. Be a part of something. Make the protest Pakistani. Make this tragedy Pakistani. Make the demands Pakistani. Make yourself Pakistani.

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  23. I am proud of you being my sunni brother. This is how we live, talk and share our thoughts and views in a civilized society. You have witnessed yourself how much of respect you ve got there being a sunni. Humanity must prevail on top of everything. much appreciated. thanks.

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  24. I dont know why we blame LeJ or other religious parties for this genocide. Don't you think such organized plans for mass masacare cannot be carried out by a handful of people with no finances? Don't you this is exactly what the terrorist nations who want to destabilize pakistan want? That we keep blamming our own country men and ignore the real culprits behind the scene who are the masterminds behind the brutal plan. Blame it on India, because they always blame everything on pakistanis.
    And yes i agree. Sunnis should stand with shias in this protest and should call it muslim genocide, call it terrorism against pakistan or a plan to shatter muslim unity.

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  25. Well i really appreciate your thoughts and how u unite everyone together, May Allah bless u its really Inspirational. All i know is, if we all stand together and protest as Pakistanis then no evil minds will ever take a chance to do such brutality against Muslims. Thanks

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  26. I am neither a Muslim nor Pakistani. I am an Indian Hindu but your story is a human story and I was deeply touched. Deep respect for you and your friend Nadir. Human life is precious and people do not deserve to die because they worship differently.

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  27. truly motivational.nothing should keep us back from supporting our shia brothers.

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  28. VERY VERY Well written article . I am so proud of you masha-allah as my sunni brother and your friends including brother Nadir. This is how one should peacefully talk and share their thoughts and views in a civilized society. May Allah increase unity in Sunni and Shia brothers. Your efforts are HIGHLY appreciated. Humanity must prevail on top of everything.THANKS BIG TIME!!! LONG LIVE PAKISTAN ! LONG LIVE PAKISTANIS !

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