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Until recently Shia–Sunni relations have been cordial, and a majority of people of both sects participated in the creation the state of Pakistan in the 1940s. [4] Despite the fact that Pakistan is a Sunni majority country, Shia have been elected to top offices and played an important part in the country's politics.
[91] [92] [93] Since 2008 thousands of Shia have been killed by Sunni extremists according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and violent clashes between the two sects are common. [94] A subset of Shia in Pakistan are the Hazara ethnic group—which are distinct from other Shi’a due to their language and facial features.
Khawaja Nazimuddin, Pakistan's second Prime Minister, argued against equal rights for all citizens in an Islamic state. [17] However, The Constitution of Pakistan establishes Islam as the state religion, [18] and provides that all citizens have the right to profess, practice and propagate their religion subject to law, public order, and morality. [19]
The fiscal dimension of Zia's Islamization policy fostered a rise in sectarianism, a term that in Pakistan denotes the conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims. As soon as Zia's plans for zakat and ushr were made public, Shia leaders objected that according to their jurisprudence of their sect, payment of these taxes was a purely individual ...
Shiite Muslims constitute about 15 per cent of Pakistan’s 240 million population, of which the majority are Sunni Muslims. The country has a longstanding history of sectarian tensions between ...
Of the total Muslim population, 87–90% are Sunni and 10–13% are Shi'a. Most Shi'as (between 68% and 80%) live in mainly four countries: Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Iraq. [31] Furthermore, there are concentrated Shi'a populations in Lebanon, Russia, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and 10 sub-Saharan African countries. [32]
Pakistan has five major ethno-regional communities in Pakistan: Baloch, Muhajir, Punjabis, Pushtuns and Sindhis, as well as several smaller groups. There are also religious and sectarian groups such as Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, Kalasha, Parsis and Sikhs, and Shia Muslim sects including Ismailis and Bohras. [1]
The 1988 Gilgit massacre was the state-sponsored mass killing of Shia civilians in the Gilgit District of Pakistan who revolted against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's Sunni Islamist regime, responsible for vehement persecution of religious minorities as part of its Islamization program.