Geneva: Kashmiri activist at UN highlights atrocities against Shias in Pakistan
Sep 28, 2024
Geneva [Switzerland], September 28 : The Shia Muslim community in Pakistan continues to be the victim of state brutalities and human rights abuses, Javed Beigh, a political activist from the Jammu & Kashmir told the United Nations during the 57th Session of Human Rights in Geneva.
In his intervention Beigh stated, "Largely unknown to the outside world, the Shia Muslim minority tribes in Pakistan continue to face the wrath of religious extremist forces and the apathy of the Pakistani government towards the ever-growing incidences of massacres targeted against them. In the latest and ongoing sectarian violence, more than 50 Shia Muslims have lost their lives in Parachinar City, the capital of Kurram Agency in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tribal province."
He further stated that the Parachinar is a unique place in Pakistan where a small community of Pashtuns from the Turi and Bangash tribes follow Shia Islam. Due to the Shia majority of Parachinar, it has been under constant attacks from various religious extremist organizations.
Beigh also referred to a land dispute stating, "A land dispute between two sects of Pashtun tribes in late July this year escalated into a full-fledged violent campaign against Shia Pashtuns in Parachinar, resulting in over four dozen deaths and injuries to over 200 people."
Beigh in his statement claimed that the Pakistan government is attempting to downplay the critical situation within the area.
He said, "The Pakistani government has been trying to downplay this anti-Shia violence by describing it as a fight between two tribes when in reality, it is a continuing and never-ending massacre of Shias in Pakistan with the convenience of state."
His statement further mentioned, "The local police and administration in Parachinar are deliberately not stopping the violence against Shias and tacitly support extremists who have been on a killing spree against Shias in Parachinar tribal region. The world must take notice of the continuing persecution of Shias in Pakistan, who continue to be at the receiving end of brutal violence."
