State of Southasia #15: Sana Batool on anti-Shia violence in Pakistan

Himal Southasian Podcast Channel

On 21 November, a deadly attack targeted a convoy of Shia Muslims traveling from Parachinar to Peshawar in Pakistan’s Kurram district, a region with a long history of sectarian violence. The convoy, consisting of over 100 vehicles, was ambushed by Sunni extremists on the Tal Parachinar Road, a crucial lifeline for the Shia-majority area. Despite being under security escort, the convoy was attacked at multiple points with heavy gunfire, leaving 130 people dead, including women and children.

Survivors claimed that the attackers were Sunnis and some accounts said that announcements had been made from mosques in the area calling for the killing of Shias. The event highlights the growing sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia communities in Pakistan, especially in Kurram, a region historically marked by land disputes but increasingly shaped by extremist ideologies.

The hostility towards Shia Muslims extends beyond Kurram. Nationally, they face hate speech, discrimination, and systemic marginalisation. Even though the media often remains silent or underreports sectarian violence, this lack of coverage further dehumanises the victims, allowing violence to continue unchecked.

In this episode of State of Southasia Sana Batool, a researcher and writer, explains how this conflict has evolved from local resource disputes to ideological battles, particularly during the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s, when sectarian violence intensified. She says that despite constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, the judiciary rarely prosecutes sectarian violence effectively, and state inaction has bred deep mistrust among Shia communities.

State of Southasia releases a new interview every two weeks.