SSP on one side drove the movement of declaring Shi’a Muslims community as infidel community at state level and society level both, on other side it is trying to establish a religio-culture parallel to composite culture of Moharram through use of power and violence. On third side it produced on large scale of anti-Shi’a hatred literature not only in hardcore format but uploaded on Social Media websites. Such hatred literature not only created huge distance between Sunni and Shia masses but misguided the Deobandi youth and instigated them on spreading Violence.

We can say that heavy majority of Deobandi clerics inclined to Nasibism and defenders of Dynasty of Banu Umayyads either joined the SSP or provided it intellectual cooperation through compiling hatred literature against Shi’a community.

After that success, Haqq Nawaz was more determined than ever to defy restrictions on his movements and was able to do so on many occasions, facilitated either by negligence of the police or by their complaisance in the face of violent protests. The SSP quickly set up branches in most districts of the Punjab—especially in the “Seraiki belt”—and organized a series of “‘Azmat-i Sahâba Conferences”. Such events were being organized for preaching hatred and inciting the young Deobandi minds the violence against Shi’a Muslims community.

SSP is active on many fronts. On one side its most active front is of Excommunication of Shi’a Muslim community and projecting Shi’a Muslim School of Thought an infidel sect. At this front SSP demands the Parliament to declare Shi’a community as non-Muslim community like Ahmadiyya community. SSP now-e-days is active as Ahle-Sunnat- Wal-Jama’at -ASWJ (Although NECTA has included its name in proscribed organizations but it is banned just on papers and ASWJ is fully function, contests General elections, Provincial elections and local bodies elections. Its third chief Maulana Azam Tariq elected three times MNA from Jhang District. Now his son Moavia Azam Tariq is MPA from Jhang city.

SSP/ASWJ is very active on Anti-Shia Muslims propaganda. SSP/ASWJ is not only producing anti-Shia Print material on large scale but also establishing anti-Shi’a digital, social media websites, YouTube channels, V-logs even web-radio channels also. Such anti-Shi’a Propaganda in Print media and on Social and digital media is creating hared against Shi’a Muslims in Pakistan’s society. Material produced by SSP/ASWJ instigates its members and followers’ extreme hatred against Shi’a Muslim community, leads them to way of violence and of taking actions against Shi’a Muslims. Such material in the form of books, Pamphlets, audios, videos easily available. And now through social media it out-reach has been become more accessible to everyone.  According to Professor Abbas Zaidi,’ In passed three decades anti-Shi’a sectarian material has poisoned the hundreds of young minds and has become one of major causes of persecution of Shi’a Community in Pakistan. Anti-Shi’a Muslims material’s distribution and propagation in the society is part of campaign of slow-motion Genocide of Shi’a Muslims. The rhetoric of SSP/ASWJ promises heaven to those who follow the edicts in letter and spirit and hell to go Shi’a Muslims who go against them. There are hundreds of thousands social pages created by SSP/ASWJ, where you can find abundance of such fatwas (Islamic Decree) which declare Shi’a Muslims as infidel, prohibiting the Sunni Muslims from keeping social relations with Shi’a Muslims.”

A senior Police Officer, former SSP Jhang, involved in the investigation of mass killings of Shi’a Muslims, is of the opinion that such anti-Shia material produced by SSP brainwashes young minds so that they have no qualms about killing Shi’a Muslims. “If You ask me for a single suggestion on how to eliminate Anti-Shi’a Extremism, I would recommend banning the audio, visual materials produced by SSP/ASWJ, particularly speeches by Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, of Zia-ur-Rahman Farooqi, of Azam Tariq and of others against Shi’a Muslims community.

In 80s and 90s anti-Shi’a material originated from Deobandi Seminaries led by SSP/ASWJ and it had been sold at make-shift stalls set up at big deobandi congregations particularly in annual congregation of Tableeghi Jamat at Raiwind, Lahore. However, such material is distributed among the members of SSP/ASWJ free of cost. SSP disseminated literature in huge quantity among Sunni masses, which had declared that Shi’as were Infidels/Kafir and urged Sunni Muslims to socially boycotted them. But due to internet technology and smart phones now anti-Shi’a Muslim propaganda in social media format has been become very important for SSP/ASWJ. SSP/ ASWJ has many its official and un-official social pages on social media like on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram, Signal, Instagram and through such social media platforms SSP/ ASWJ spread hate-speech, hatred material against Shi’a Muslims.

“A 16-page SSP/Booklet, ‘Shi’a Ka Boycott Karo, Yeh Har Ummati per farz Hai’ (It is duty of every Muslim to boycott the Shi’as) is widely distributed. It is available with all members of SSP/ ASWJ who are instructed to disseminate it among other Muslims. The Booklet declares Shi’a as infidels.

“On the page 3 of the booklet, the writer interpreted a Hadeeth as: Oh, lovers of Prophet PBUH! Involvement with Shi’as is betrayal of your prophet and his companions and it is a dishonor. Do not allow the burials of Shi’as in the graveyards of the Muslims. It is necessary to discontinue all relations with Shia to protect your family. In the view of Quran and Sunnah Ahle-Tashee are infidels, Murtad (Apostate) and out of the domain Islam.”

Page-10 carries an explanation of saying of Hazrat Ali almost gives license to kill Shi’as. Hazrat Ali is quoted as saying:”Whenever you find them, kill them because… they will be abusing …….” In the explanation, the author urges SSP (now working as Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jama’at -ASWJ) his followers to kill the Shi’a, where they find, because Shi’as are Mushriks /polytheist.

The 133-page book published by the Jamiat Al-Uloom-Al-Islamia Allama Binori Town contains the views and decrees of certain Deoband Ulema from India and Pakistan against Shias. The distributor offers bulk copies at cost price for those who wish to distribute it. On Page 164 the book contains a decree issued by the late Maulana Rashed Ahmed, head of the Darul Irshad, Nazimabad Karachi. It reads: “Undoubtedly, Shias are Kafirs (Infidels), there is no doubt about this. They (Shias) including literate, illiterate, man, woman or child are of the same belief so they are all infidels. Shias are more dangerous than other non-Muslims because they are entrenched in Muslim communities and are trying to destroy this world and the world to come. May God protect us from their shar (mischief).

Page 153-4 contains the decree of Allama Mohammad Yousuf of Binori Town, a scholar of Deoband school of thought. After examining Shia literature, he concludes that “there is no doubt about ther infidelity of Shias and they are excluded form Islam. Shia’ at is a religion contrary to Islam.’’

There are also other decrees issued by various ulema against Shias. A decree issued no May 29, 1999, form the Binori Town institution states: “If a married Shia woman embraces the Sunni sect and wants a second marriage then she does not need a talaq (divorce) because her earlier Nikkah was not legitimate. “Yet another decree by the same institutions says that Qurbani (sacrifice) by Shias is not legitimate and if Muslims of the other sects include their share of sacrifices with Shias. Then it is unacceptable.

There are several publications by Maulana Yousuf Ludhianvi, a renowned Deoband scholar, which criticize the translation of Quran by Allama Farman Ali, a Shia scholar from India.

In addition to books and cassettes, these sectarian organization SSP/ ASWJ also used wall chalkings to abuse Shi’a Community in 80s and 90s. Nearly every second wall in Karachi was inscribed with slogans such as “Kafir Kafir-Shia Kafir”

Easily availability of poisons and hatred material against Shi’a Muslims by SSP/ASWJ in 80s and 90s not only brainwashed hundreds of young Sunni minds but also contributed to an increase in religious fanaticism in Deobandi Sunni youth. That material instigated its followers to resort the violence toward Shi’a Muslims. From 2000s to still, in the age of social media, where making fake-news, construed propaganda has been an art, hatred campaign against Shi’a Muslims by Nasibi organizations like ASWJ/ SSP have been entered in new phase.

Due to anti-Shi’a Muslim hatred campaign and activities by anti-Shi’a organizations like SSP/ASWJ more than 25,000 Shi’a Muslims have been killed from 1960 to 2022 in Pakistan. More than 1000 Shi’a doctors, religious scholars, prominent professionals, artists, poets, authors, teachers, business men, women, children are included also included in the list of Shi’a killings.

Anti-Shia Muslims organizations like SSP/ ASWJ don’t allow Shi’a Muslims to practice their faith and don’t allow to express their beliefs freely. Hundreds of thousands of FIRs are registered in Police Station offices of the country just over waving the Flag of Ghazi Abbas in Public places, over organizing Mourning Sittings even under wall-boundary of the houses without getting permission from the local administrations, over expressing their fundamental beliefs. Even Blasphemy laws are being used against Shi’a Muslims over practice of their faith. Taimur Raza, young Shi’a Muslim is first Shi’a Muslim in Pakistan who has been sentenced to death by a Anti-Terrorist court in Bahawalpur on 10 June 2017 under Blasphemy Act.

Sources:

1-Sectarian Violence in Karachi 1992-2004 Pages:14,15,17

2- List of 38 Doctors killed just due to their Shi’a identity from 1994-2004 can be seen in study and research-based booklet “Sectarian Violence in Karachi” A study by Zulfiqar Shah, Published by HRCP, Lahore.

3- Shi’a Genocide in Pakistan: Myth or Reality by Aamir Hussaini