According to a video being circulated on social media, the participants of the rally that was held on Sunday can be heard saying 'Long Live Yazid' in response to a slogan raised by one of the speakers. The video caused outraged among the members of the Shia community, who asked the government to take notice to the elements trying to stir sectarian violence.
The social media users claimed that Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneeb also took part in the rally. However, there was no truth to the claims, as the cleric being portrayed as Mufti Muneeb was in fact the Ahl-e-Hadith Sindh leader Sheikh Muhammad Yousuf Kasuri. Kasuri's name is also mentioned on the poster the rally that was shared on Facebook page by the religious outfits.
Since the start of Muharram, there has been an increase in hate campaigns against Shia groups and subsequent blasphemy allegations for reciting Ziyarat-e-Ashura — a prayer that denounces the killers of Imam Hussain. Moreover, a number of Shia orators were detained across the country for allegedly making blasphemous statements against some companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
On Friday, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) held a rally in Karachi against the minority Shia community.
During the rally, the participant chanted hate slogans, such as ‘Shia kafir’ against the members of the Shia community, and demanded a ban on Muharram processions.
Sudden rise in blasphemy cases against Shias:
At least 42 cases pertaining to blasphemy were registered across Pakistan in a single month. Most of those accused of blasphemy belonged to the Shia community, who have been booked under 295-A and 298 sections of the Pakistan Penal Code for allegedly ‘insulting the companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’.
Similarly, members of Ahmadiyya and Christian communities are also among the people accused of blasphemy. Blasphemy accusations are highly inflammatory in deeply conservative Pakistan and have in the past sparked mob lynchings, vigilante murders, and mass protests.
Amid a rise in such cases, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it was ‘gravely concerned’ at the recent surge in blasphemy cases being registered against sectarian and religious minorities, particularly the Shia community, and the potential for ensuing sectarian violence. It said the police must also refrain from registering blasphemy cases so promptly, knowing full well the sensitive implications of doing so when such complaints are often fabricated and spurred on by personal vendettas.
Anti-Shia wall chalking appears in Karachi ahead of PM’s visit:
Days after a Shia cleric was booked for alleged blasphemous remarks, anti-Shia wall chalking — a hate practice common since the 80s — has reappeared in various neighbourhoods of Karachi.
According to a post shared on Facebook, the wall chalking also had flags of banned sectarian outfits next to it. “Today, Prime Minister and COAS are coming to Karachi and we can see how the decades-old wall chalkings of “Shia Kafir” started reappearing on the street walls of various neighbourhoods in Karachi with the flags of the banned militant outfits.”