This is an account of the present scenario of sectarian violence in Pakistan, and its psychological effects on individuals in country.

3. PROTESTERS AGAINST KALABAGH DAM IN
KARACHI(DAWN NEWS,APRIL 2009)

5. THE PEOPLE KILLED BY BALOCHISTAN LIBERATION
FRONT (BLA),TAKEN DOWN FROM A BUS.MOST WERE
PUNJABIS, MUHAJIRS AND PUKHTOONS

6. THE RELATIVES OF SHIAS OF HAZARA COMMUNITY PROTESTING
AGAINST GOVERNMENT WITH DEAD BODIES ON ROADS
QUETTA (2013)

7.  It is narrow-minded devotion to a particular sect or
group, especially adherence or excessive devotion to
a particular sect, especially in religion. It is hatred
arising from attaching importance to perceived
differences between subdivisions within a group,
such as between different denominations of a
religion, class, regional or a political movement.
 Sectarianism is the effort of making your group the
most superior and dominating as compared to the
rest, by all fair or unfair means.

8. The dark shadow we seem to see in the
distance is not really a mountain ahead,
but the shadow of the mountain behind -
a shadow from the past thrown forward
into our future. It is a dark sludge of
historical sectarianism. We can leave it
behind us if we wish.
DAVID TRIMBLE

9. It can be divided to 3 main subtypes
 Religious sectarianism
It means to discriminate on the basis of religious
differences.
 Political sectarianism
It means to differentiate on the basis of political
differences.
 Cultural/Ethnic/Linguistic sectarianism
It refers to segregation on basis of ethnicity, language,
culture, caste etc

10.  CORE ISSUE OF PAKISTAN
 RELATED TO OUR EVERY DAY LIFE
 REASON OF THE ISSUES SUCH AS
TERRORISM,POLITICAL INSTABILITY, LAW
AND ORDER.
 DISTRACTION FROM NATIONAL GOALS
 INDIVIDUAL LEVEL PROBLEMS
 DYSFUNCTIONING OF SOCIETY

11.  INITIATED IN GOVERNMENT OF ZIA-UL-HAQ BY HIS
ISLAMIZATION POLICIES IN EARLY 1980 AND 1990 ERA.
 PEOPLE OF SHIA SECT WERE FORCED TO ACCEPT SUNNI WAY
OF LIFE.
 THE RAPID CHANGES IN GEO-POLITICAL SITUATIONS,IRAN
REVOLUTION, RUSSIAN INVASION ON AFGHANISTAN, PROXY-WAR
OF MUJAHIDEENS IN AFGAN AREAS AND MADRASAH
SYSTEM WERE A STRONG FACTOR.
 THE SOCIOECONOMIC STRESSES SERVED AS A PROPULSION TO
ENGINE.
 THE NEGLECT OF NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS RELATED TO LAW
AND ORDER MAINTENANCE SERVED TO INCREASE
FAVORABILITY FOR SECTARIANISM.

12. PROTESTERS MARCH AGAINST THE SHIA GENOCIDE

13.  RELIGIOUS SECTARIANISM
PAKISTAN’S FIRST AND FOREMOST ISSUE IS
RELATED TO RELIGION. WE ARE A RELIGION
BASED SOCIETY.

14. Pakistan may include the Sunni majority, Shia,
and the small Ahmadi and Christian religious
groups.
According to the Human Rights Watch, in
2011 and 2012, Pakistan minority groups Shia,
Ahmadi, and Christians faced unprecedented
insecurity and persecution in the country.
Attacks on Sunni Sufi shrines by "militants"
have also been reported.

15. Among those blamed for the sectarian
violence in the country are mainly
militants such as Sipah-e-Sahaba, Tehrik-e
-Taliban Pakistan, and members of Shia
militant groups such as Sipah-e-
Muhammad Pakistan.

16.  According to Library of Congress, Pew Research
Center, Oxford University, the CIA, Factbook and other
experts, Shia Islam in Pakistan make up 15-25% while
the remaining 70-85%is Sunni Islam.
 An estimated 2.3% of the population are Ahmadis who
are officially considered non-Muslims by virtue of a
1974 constitutional amendment.
 Non-Muslim religions include Hinduism and
Christianity each with 2,800,000 (1.6%) adherents as of
2005.The Bahá'í Faith, has a following of 30,000, then
Sikhism, Buddhism and Parsis, each claiming 20,000
adherents,and a very small community of Jains.

17.  In the early years of sectarian conflict, extremist
Sunnis clashed with Ahmadis, until they were
declared non-Muslims in 1974 by the national
assembly of Pakistan through an amendment in
constitution.
 Under continuing rule of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq,
sectarianism in Pakistan, especially in Karachi and
South Punjab, became quite violent as the process of
Islamization began in the Pakistani judicial system.

18.  Since the year 2000, over 2000 Shia Hazara community
members including many women and children have
been killed or wounded in attacks perpetrated by Sunni
Muslim terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Taliban
in southwestern town of Quetta.
 On December 28, 2009, as many as 40 Shias were
killed in an apparent suicide bombing in Karachi.
 Since June 2010 in Karachi, Sipah-e-Sahaba is
involved in the target killing of seven innocent
bystanders and intellectuals; all were from the Twelver
Shia Muslim community.

20. On 03 March, 2013 a power full bomb blast in the city of
Karachi in the area of Abbas Town killed 45 people and
wounded 150 others. The bomb blast destroyed building
and set others building on fire.
Karachi had witnessed similar sectarian tension in the
early 1980s when then President Zia-ul-Haq was in
power. The military regime of those years had been
backing certain groups to strengthen its rule and Karachi
underwent worst situation after the sectarian riots.

21. First they came for the communists, and I did not
speak out—
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not
speak out—
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not
speak out—
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not
speak out—
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—
and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Martin Niemöller

22.  The above mentioned poem represents a dire situation of
political sectarianism that is prevailing in our country. The
country is divided into many political groups and they are
interested more in the political powers of their group as
compared to rest of the things on Earth. The main reason of
this political sectarianism is political gains over other
group.
 All the political groups have their own system of selection;
they have local area administrators not necessarily among
common people, but also from the gangsters, criminals etc.
to maintain their power. Karachi is the biggest example,
where people are so afraid of specific political parties that
they don’t dare to go against them.

23.  The Pakistani country is divided into many cultures,
tribes and language groups. We have over 200
language groups, above 20 ethnicities and 7 major
cultures(punjabi, sindhi, balochi, pakhtoon, kashmiri,
hazara and seraiki).
 All the people in these groups are in conflict on
theses basis with each other.

25. One issue is the Kalabagh dam,which is not
being made only because of the provincial
differences.
Moreover, there is demand of seperation in
other provinces on base of ethnic and cultural
differences, e.g BLF (Balochistan Liberation
Front) is an army of rebels of state who want
to turn Balochistan into a separate state.

26. Month Incidents Killed Injured
January 15 124 176
February 26 141 227
March 8 9 2
April 2 2 0
TOTAL
51 276 405

31.  Quest for Islamic Nationalism
 Religious Politics and Education
 Political Blame Games and Divisions
Weaknesses in Prosecution and Criminal Justice
System
 Ideological Conflicts:
 Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons
 Regional aspects

32.  International politics
 Misinterpretation of religious concepts
 Prejudice
 Rigidity
 Lack of resources
 Deprivation of rights
 Socio-economic conditions
 Illiteracy
 Lack of fundamental resources
 Lack of positive activities
 Intolerance
 Personal gains

33.  Economic downfall
The society is very unstable and its economic condition is
extremely disturbed due to sectarian conflicts.
 Political unrest
There is a tug-of war of the stronger groups and the others,
especially in political field. So the country is never under a
proper leader.
 Instability
The division of society into non-homogenous groups turns
every thing prone to conflicts, so the level of doubt and
uncertainty arises

34.  Dependency on foreign aid
As the country is not able to do anything because its people are
fighting all time, the general mass is dependent on foreign aid.
 Weak defense against enemies
The weak economy makes it unable for a country to defend
itself from its enemies on all levels. There is a set-back in
every field.
 Unable to preserve the culture
The people get bore and bizarre about their own culture finding
it cumbersome to be with, it turns so disturbing that they are
inclined to find a new way of life.

35.  Chaos in every field
People are not able to take a stand and there is a huge
chaos in every field of life as the basic resources
needed to groom are missing.
 Inability to continue any direction
The country lacks its true path. Every sect tries to
impose its own ways and considers rest as cheap and
not appropriate.

36.  Frustration
 feelings of fear
 Terrorism
 feelings of hatred
 Lack of self-proficiency
 Un-loyalty
 inferiority complex
 Brain-drain
 Lack of basic facilities of life

37.  Muhammad Salf Khan and Waliuddin (1995) P.U conducted a research on the
impact of the sectarianism on psychological health of society. The results were that
the the index of depression aroused on scale as the people were exposed to more
sectarianism-oriented settings.
 Alya Bukhari (2002) BZU studied effects of ethical differences and the academic
achievements of students in postgraduate level. Thus the results found were that the
ethical differences were highlighted more in students that showed lower self-esteem
and previous educational achievements, as compared to ones with high achievers.
 Pakistan Institute of Social Research( funded by UNO and working under Interior
Ministry)Karachi ,conducted a survey in 2001 about the effect of sunni-shia
conflicts on workplace and intimate relationing. Almost 73 % reported to deal with
opposite sect person at workplace without any issue,62 % reported to hide their
inner dislike in front of them and 81 % reported not to prefer any intimate
relationning with opposite sect.

38.  Chaudhry Ammar Yaseen,Sheikh Ali and Saud Rehman(2005)
studied the effects of cultural differences on economic growth of
Pakistan. They found that the urbanized areas with higher cultural
differences are able to be more productive as compared to less
urbanized ones.
 Hadia Hussain (2007) conducted a poll survey related to preference
of the selection of same ethnic member in interviews by interview
takers. It was found that a very high ratio 7:2 of preferrers among
non-preferrers was found. The Punjabis tended to support Punjabis,
same was the case with Pathans, Sindhis and other groups.
 In different magazines like Readers Digest (2008) New York Times
(2006), Pakistani society was rated as one among those countries
having highest rate of sectarian violence, in 2000, sectarian conflicts
had an average of 70/500 cases in local police stations. In 2006, it
was 210/ 500 and in 2008, it was 232/500. It also includes the cases
indirectly associated with sectarianism.

39.  There is an increase in violent tendencies in areas prone to
sectarian conflicts, according to a research of American Study
Centre For South Asia and South-East Asia (2009). The tribal,
rural and the secluded areas of Pakistan are prone to more
sectarian conflicts including racial, linguistic, religious and
political clashes. Most of people involved in such conflicts
are aged 18-25 and they are funded by different authorities in
their specific areas.
 A study by Aleem Agha (2012) shows that the people involved
in sectarianism are mentally less capable as compared to the
people not involved. They have lower intelligence and
psychological health.