This was the title of a seminar recently held in the Iranian city of ‘Qom’, “Holocaust of Shias in Parachinar”. We all have been receiving pictures of beheaded bodies and acts of barbarianism from both Sunni and Shia friends. We all know that dozens of people are violently subjugated to sectarian hatred everyday in this once beautiful tribal area of Pakistan, Parachinar.

The following is a news report by an Iranian news agency on the seminar and how Tehran has raised the issue at the highest level with the Pakistani authority.

Media blackout on Parachinar Shia killings

Leading Pakistani scholars strongly condemn the ‘western media censor-policy’ over the Shia Muslim killings in the northwestern city of Parachinar.

Political experts and religious scholars, attending a summit in the Iranian city of Qom, emphasized on the necessity to launch a regional media campaign to raise global awareness about the issue.

The summit held in Iranian city of Qom under the banner “Holocaust of Shias in Parachinar,” came in the wake of the killings of hundreds of Shia community-members over the past six months in Parachinar and Hangu.

Pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants, who are reportedly behind the killings, have imposed an economic blockade against the Shia-dominated population areas.

The frequent incidents have raised concerns among human rights group, while moderate Pakistani Sunni groups have described the issue as a conspiracy against the country.

Taliban leaders, who were toppled in the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, took refuge to tribal regions in Pakistan and rapidly began to extend heir influence from tribes to major towns and cities.

The pro-Taliban anti-Shia groups have launched a violent campaign against the Shia Muslims, and are stretching the campaign toward the restive southwestern Pakistan as well.

Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province has witnessed several instances of violence directed against the Hazara Shia community in recent months.

Several Shia religious gatherings have also been targeted in central province of Punjab over the past some months.

Tehran has repeatedly cautioned Islamabad over the ‘silent massacre’ of its Shia community by the Taliban in the country. “The incidents that have occurred against Pakistan’s Shia community are a plot to create conflict between the region’s Sunni and Shia population,” said Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.

“We have warned Islamabad over the incidents and we will follow up on the matter,” he added.

Shia sources say they make up one-third of Pakistan’s population of nearly 160 million. Since the 1980s, thousands of people have been killed in sectarian-related incidents in Pakistan.

What I fail to understand is that the locals have been demanding the government to send in the army to Parachinar as opposed to areas where the locals have stood up by saying that they we will deal with the militants ourselves and the army need not intervene.

What I also fail to understand is that the media is absolutely silent on this issue of enormous importance. Where is the justice we talk about? Where are the voices who stand up for human rights? Or are they busy organizing concerts and fashion shows?

Also Read: http://letusbuildpakistan.blogspot.com/2009/03/pakistani-bloggers-blackout-on-shia.html