After lengthy discussions with a 30-member peace jirga since clashes began on July 7 in the Upper Kurram region, warring tribes have agreed to a ceasefire.
Image of Peace Agreement among the rival tribes in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Role of the Administration
https://www.dawn.com/news/1764327
Since last Tuesday, a 30-member peace jirga headed by Commissioner Kohat has tirelessly held numerous talks with the elders from both sides. Security personnel will be stationed in bunkers in accordance with the cease-fire agreement to ensure that the cease-fire is followed. At a later time, the subject of defining common land (Shamilat) will also be covered. The talks between the opposing groups at the jirga, according to federal minister Sajjid Hussain Turi, were fruitful, and both sides agreed to the truce.
Role of Major Political Parties
ANP held a jirga in the ongoing tension in #Kurram. A committee of 6 members of ANP negotiated peace b/w the two sides in mosques, hajras and various places. Excellent role for the establishment of peace& humanity. We pay tribute to @AimalWali for this noble work.#ANP4Peace pic.twitter.com/bQQBmPkXHz
— Muhammad Nihal (@Nihalmohmand051) July 13, 2023
Major political parties with sway in Pashtun areas, including the National Awami Party, National Democratic Party, and Pakistan People’s Party, sent their peace jirga to the Karam district. There, they met tribal elders and clerics who were Shia and Sunni while urging them to play their part in promoting peace in the district.
The ongoing tension in #Kurram was painful, there have been many losses. A beautiful area like #Parachinar is the best place for tourism. The govt should play a role in the development & rule of law of the merged districts. We wants peace not war Peace is life๐๏ธ#ANP4Peace
— Inam Azal Afridi (@Azalafridi10) July 13, 2023
Pashtun Tahfuz Movement (a large social movement for human rights and peace in Pashtun areas) also played a positive role in this regard – the main convenor of this organization, Manzoor Pashteen, held a press conference and asked the warring tribes to stop fighting and establish peace. Appealed – PTM also conducted peace march in many Pashtun areas including Peshawar, Islamabad.
On July 12, 2023 , a statement appeared on official twitter account of PTM:
ย A war has been imposed on Kurrum by force. No parties to the war but a third force is creating a war. It is old tactics & to make ground for repeating war of terror. Creating enmity among Pashtuns is colonial tactic. No to imposed war on #Kurrum for colonial purposes.
A war has been imposed on Kurrum by force. No parties to the war but a third force is creating a war. It is old tactics & to make ground for repeating war of terror. Creating enmity among Pashtuns is colonial tactic. No to imposed war on #Kurrum for colonial purposes.
— PTM (@PashtunTM_Offi) July 10, 2023
Shia Genocide Plot Foiled
Some misguided individuals are spreading false information to portray #Kurram land dispute as sectarian conflict to sabotage peace in the region. Watch this video based on facts and know the reality. #Parachinar #FactCheck pic.twitter.com/gR4GZ0c5Is
— Muhammad Arif Khan (@M_Arif61) July 13, 2023
A Shia genocide plot in Parachinar was unsuccessful. The peace-loving forces foiled the attempts of Sipah Sahaba, TTP, and Lashkar Jhangvi to incite a conflict between Pashtun Shias and Sunnis in Kurram, a tribal district of KPK in Pakistan.
During the fighting that started on July 7, the sectarian elements made a lot of anti-Shia propaganda.
On the one hand, to incite Shia Muslims, the images of the situation in Parachinar and Kirk in 2021 on Twitter and Facebook were interpreted as July 2023 situation in Parachinar.
๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ: ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐. ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐
Locals defy false narratives, emphasizing truth behind Parachinar issue. It's a land dispute b/w tribes,wrongly depicted as sectarian. Let's amplify their voices to unveil reality. #Parachinar pic.twitter.com/LtWkZp3Nve— INFO TRACKS (@Info_Tracks) July 12, 2023
Afghanistan’s former ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mohammad Ashrafi, released pictures and videos of the 2021 attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in Kirk and Parchinar on his Twitter account, falsely claiming that the Taliban breached the fence on the Pak-Afghan border and sieged the Shia Pashtuns of Parachinar. Later he deleted that tweet.
๐ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ค:
โ ๏ธ๐จ
This viral photograph of the Taliban that is currently circulating in relation to the situation in #Parachinar and #Karak is actually from 2021.#ูพุงุฑุงฺูุงุฑ
(1/3) pic.twitter.com/77Jb8Vf2Jv— Fact Check Pakistan (@Factcheck_Pak) July 10, 2023
But a large number of people had uploaded those images and videos on social media – with which an attempt was made to establish the impression that Shia genocide was being carried out under the guise of an ongoing fight between two tribes in Parachinar.
Taha Siddiqui, a self-exiled Pakistani journalist (recently based in Paris) claimed that many videos from Parachinar showed that Shia residents were fighting back state backed Sunni groups. Reportedly 9 dead & it started due to land dispute but its well-known Parachinar Shias were repeatedly targeted by Pak army proxies for challenging #Talibanization of this region. He uploaded the same video to support his claim, which had been shared by Mohammad Ashrafi, the former Afghan ambassador in Sri Lanka.
#BREAKING Many videos from #Parachinar show #Shia residents fighting back state backed #Sunni groups. Reportedly 9 dead & it started due to land dispute but its well known Parachinar Shias are repeatedly targeted by Pak army proxies for challenging #Talibanization of this region pic.twitter.com/bb3OhNxEsU
— Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) July 11, 2023
A Twitter account called Fact Check Pakistan pointed out that the video was old, but Siddiqui did not remove the video from his Twitter account, but retweeted it on July 12.
On the other hand, a very divisive campaign was started on multiple anonymous Twitter accounts against the Pashtun Shia Muslims of Para Chinar.
The Shia group are also displaying wedding clothes they captured from Sunni villages to shame them but this has instead turned all locals against them as this is completely against Pashto.
In Pashtun society innocent women are sacred and to insult them is to insult all Pashtuns. pic.twitter.com/TXUeKBY3G3— Pakhtunkhwa (@LoyPakhtunkhwa) July 13, 2023
Such anonymous claims served to legitimize the massacre of Sunni Pashtun Muslims in the Pashtun tribal area of Kurram.
Such social media accounts uploaded false videos to incite the Sunnis against Shias.
On such anonymous social media accounts supporting the Afghan Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Pashtun Wali tradition and the history of the Pashtun tribes were distorted and used against the Pashtun Shia Muslims of Kurram.
A fake video has gone viral on social media in which it is claimed that Shia tribesmen of Parachinar attacked a Sunni village and desecrated women there and displayed their stolen clothes – the viralists claimed that The Shia tribes of Parachinar have nothing to do with Pashtun values, nor do they respect Islamic values.
There are more โSyedโ in Pakistan than all other Syedโs around the world ๐
How bad of an inferiority complex would you need to have for you to lie to people that youโre from the progeny of the Prophet ๏ทบ just so you can feel better about yourself
— Akbar Khan (@AkbarWaazir) July 8, 2023
Through the use of social media, Shia Muslims were the target of malicious propaganda campaign from groups such as Sipah Sahaba, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. These groups sought full Shia-Sunni riots in Kurram district. They wanted thatย People should be put to death in large numbers so that there would eventually be a civil war between Shia and Sunni Muslims throughout the country.
