Lahore (AsiaNews) – Violent incidents in the first two weeks of October not only rattled the government but also focused media attention on Pakistan. They have raised so many questions as well. Is it sectarian violence only? Is it the result of the government's war on terror? Is it related to world politics? Or is an internal political problem caused by General Pervez Musharraf's ouster of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999.

What is clear is that on October 1, 30 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up during Friday prayers in a Shi'ite mosque in the eastern district of Sialkot. A week later, about 40 Sunnis were killed and more than 100 injured when a bomb ripped through a crowd of mourners attending a public rally in Multan to mark the first anniversary of the shooting of Sunni religious leader Azam Tariq. Most of the victims were followers of Sepah-i-Sahab (Soldiers of Mohammad's Companions), an outlawed extremist Sunni group that Tariq headed and which has been blamed for many bloody attacks on Pakistan's Shi'ite community. Last Sunday, four more people were killed in a Shi'ite mosque in Lahore when a suicide bomber opened fire, then blew himself up. So far inter-communal violence has caused the death of more than 75 people in the last few weeks, 164 since the beginning of 2004 and more than 4,000 since 1980.

According to Pakistani authorities the latest round might be related to the government's anti-terrorist operation in Wana, or to the killing of Amjad Farooqi, a Pakistani al-Qaeda leader wanted in many terrorists attacks both in and outside the country, killed by Pakistani forces on 26th September. And for Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Syed the recent violence is designed to create a sense of insecurity in the public, throw the government bureaucracy into chaos and fuel the sectarian fire.

But for many the great schism between Sunnis and Shi'ites cannot be neglected. Differences between the majority Sunni and minority Shi'ite Muslims date back to the dawn of Islam. They are directly linked to the issue of succession following the death of Prophet Muhammad. Shi'ites believe that after his death, his son-in-law Ali should have succeeded him. They still regard him as the first imam. Sunnis, too, respect Ali but as the fourth Caliph of Islam. They instead believe that the appointment of one of the Prophet's companions, Abu Bakr, as the first Caliph was correct. As fundamental as it is this difference between the Shi'ites and Sunnis is not the only one.

Although the schism between Shi'ites and Sunnis goes back centuries, sectarian violence as it exists today in Pakistan can be traced to the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the same year. Saudi and US funding of militant groups to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan fuelled Sunni extremism in Pakistan and throughout region. The Islamic Revolution in Iran, a predominantly Shi'ite country, spurred another wave of radicalism in the region, but Shi'ite this time. The measures taken by Pakistan's then military ruler General Zia ul-Haq to consolidate his control added fuel to the fundamentalist and sectarian fire.

The roots of sectarian extremist groups such as Sepah-i-Sahab, Sunni Tehrik and Tehrik-e-Jafria are found in the policies of those days.

Interestingly, Dr Safaraz Naeemi, the convener of Difa-i-Islam Mahaz (Islamic Defence Front) called the recent wave of bomb blasts a conspiracy by secret agencies to divert public attention from the issue of Musharraf's dual role as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
Analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi, former head of the Political Science Department at Punjab University in Lahore, sees the latest upsurge as an attempt to disrupt government efforts to dismantle militant groups. This is done to show that they are powerful enough to undermine the government's action and credibility. Violence becomes a tool to carve out some political space.

According to I.A. Rehman, director of Pakistan's Human Rights Commission, more than 10,000 madrassas (Muslim seminaries) throughout Pakistan are a source of bitter sectarian hatred. Sectarian violence is the result of years of brainwashing of thousands and thousands of young minds. This is the only job they know they can now perform well.

Claiming that there was no Shi'ite-Sunni divide in Pakistani society, the Islamic Defence Front appealed to ulemas and prayer leaders to mobilise people to maintain unity and harmony and observe a day of solidarity on October 15.