Pashtun and Punjabi Taliban

This chapter attempts to analyse the dynamics of the Pashtun–Punjabi nexus and the areas of competition and cooperation between Sunni sectarian groups and the Pakistani Taliban. It outlines the links between Sunni sectarian groups and the Afghan Taliban, the impact of the collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the implications of the relocation of Punjabi jihadi/sectarian groups in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). It also focuses on the consequences of the storming of Islamabad's Lal Masjid in July 2007, and it investigates the re-emergence of sectarian groups in Karachi and in the Punjab and its implications for Pakistan. The Punjab and Karachi have been the primary hubs of sectarian violence in Pakistan since the 1980s, but in the post-9/11 environment the Sunni-Shia conflict has assumed a new dimension.

Kashars Against Mashars

This chapter discusses the change in the sociology and patterns of leadership in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) since the arrival of al-Qaeda in the area after 9/11. It focuses on South Waziristan which has become the hub of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Uzbeks, among other foreign jihadis. The chapter argues that the Talibanization of Waziristan might be analyzed as the outcome of a social movement among the Wazir tribesmen which started in the 1970s and was accelerated in the post-9/11 context. It analyzes the emergence of “tribal entrepreneurs” who took advantage of the change in political opportunities and their access to resources in order to challenge the traditional tribal leadership. It also describes the movement of the kashars against the mashars and the Political Agent.

Salafism in Pakistan

This chapter reviews the genealogy of Salafism in South Asia from the seventeenth century onwards. It focuses on Salafis that are known as Ahl-e Hadith in South Asia and have relatively few followers in Pakistan, where they have been active since the nineteenth century. The Salafis have maintained close ties with the Saudi religious establishment since the 1960s, ties which were reinforced when thousands of Arabs came to Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The chapter also deliberates the Ahl-e Hadith movement and its jihadi expression in Kashmir. The Jama'at Ahl-e Hadith, an elitist politico religious movement aimed at islah, originated in the early 1870s.

‘It’s Just a Sunni-Shia Thing’

This chapter demonstrates that “rising sectarianism” is a direct offshoot of growing Talibanization, which suggests that both schools of thought began to overlap more and more. It talks about the evolution of sectarianism, which translated into mass violence that spilled over to the neighboring region of Orakzai and fostered by socio-economic factors. Sectarianism comes from the belief that the sect which one professes is the only true one and that the followers of other sects should be converted to one's own sect or exterminated. The chapter explains how sectarianism is often seen as the consequence of Zia-ul Haq's Islamization policy in the 1980s, which involved a state monopoly on religion and the dominance of a particular sect. Sectarian consciousness had always existed but it was mostly confined to theological debates and clashes during the month of Muharram.

The Sunni-Shia Conflict in Jhang (Pakistan)

This chapter highlights the violent clashes that mostly happened during Muharram when the Shias perform mourning rituals or azadari in public and take out huge processions. Since the mid-1980s, parties and violent groups, often sponsored by Islamic states, have emerged with a narrow sectarian agenda. The chapter discusses how the level and intensity of violence has tremendously increased in Afganistan and Kashmir due to the availability of weapons and easy access to training facilities. Sunnis and Shias have killed each other in the name of religion in the Punjab, in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), in Karachi, and in the Northern Areas of Gilgit and Baltistan. This chapter analyzes the internal and external causes of the emergence of the sectarian conflict in Pakistan at the macro level.

Introduction

This chapter reveals Mariam Abou Zahab's knowledge of South Asia, especially Afghanistan and Pakistan. Zahab had explored Afghanistan and Pakistan extensively throughout her life, beginning her travels as early as 1973. The chapter reflects her anthropological erudition, which was exceptional in respect to different facets of the Twelver Shia community and the Sunni schools of thought in South Asia. It illustrates Zahab's pedagogical accounts of the transformation of conservative Sunni groups and Deobandis into Islamist and neo-fundamentalist movements. It also highlights her study of the “neo-islamization of Pakistani Shias.” The combination of ethno-historical and regional approach was the first trademark of Mariam Abou Zahab.

Connections and Dynamics

This chapter highlights transnational interactions that are exemplified by accounts of the interactions between Osama Bin Laden and Pakistani Sunni militant groups. It acknowledges the role of the army, specifically the military intelligence known as the Pakistani secret services (ISI), an institution which decided to use jihadi groups against India in a more systematic manner in the 1990s. Networks of personal relationships often played a substantial role, especially among the former Islamic volunteers who fought in Afghanistan from 1984 to 1992. The chapter also highlights the Uzbeks and Tajiks that fought shoulder to shoulder between 1992 and 1997. It discusses the consequence that members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan were able to find in the refuge and protection of the upper Gharm valley in Tajikistan between 1998 and 2000.

The SSP

This chapter investigates “sectarianism” in the context of Pakistan. Sectarianism denotes the conflict between the Sunni and Shia communities, which make up about 80 and 20 percent of the population. South Asia has a long tradition of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims, especially in the form of isolated incidents during the Muharram processions. The chapter highlights the latent tensions between Sunni and Shia that were intensified by the Islamization policy introduced during the rule of General Zia-ul Haq. The Islamization policy was an approach based on a narrow interpretation of Hanafi Sunni Islam and favored the Deobandi school of thought.

Sectarianism as a Substitute Identity Sunnis and Shias in Central and South Punjab

This chapter evaluates how the main contradiction of Pakistan has not yet been resolved. Pakistan is highly fragmented and has never been a nation-state. It has failed in integrating the people into a nation by making their Pakistani identity their most treasured possession. People had to find other identities, whether ethnic group, caste, language, biradari or sect. The chapter talks about the political vacuum created in the Zia era that was filled by the emergence of ethnic and sectarian organizations. In the 1970s, ethnicity became a substitute identity, but it was branded as treason and violently suppressed. The chapter also describes the religious environment in the 1980s. Religious identity was fostered by the state and official sanction was given to the religious organizations during the Afghan War in the name of Islam.

The Politicization of the Shia Community in Pakistan in the 1970s and 1980s

This chapter points out the prominent role the Shias played in the struggle for Pakistan. It highlights how most of the leaders from Paskistan were westernized and saw politics as a collective secular activity separate from religion. Before 1977, Pakistan was neutral and had no sectarian agenda. Shias were well represented in the army and the federal and local bureaucracy, and there were Shia ministers in each successive government. The chapter focuses on the reign of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto from 1971 to 1977, during which communal disturbances erupted occasionally during the month of Muharram that sometimes led to riots. It also talks about the Islamization policy of General Zia-ul Haq's rule from 1977 to 1988 that was based on narrow Sunni interpretations of Islam.