ISLAMABAD: On January 3, 2014, Shakeel Muavia, a resident of Golra, was extremely happy - just a day earlier his brother, Mufti Muneer Muavia, was released from jail.

In the morning, the newly released brother, Mufti Muneer left home to visit his father-in-law Maulana Abdul Hameed Sabri in Sector I-8.

Shakeel spent the day preparing dinner but in the afternoon, he got a call from his brother’s father-in-law who asked him over.

Attacks increased following Ashura violence last year

“On my way to I-8, I passed a private hospital in H-8, where there was an unusual traffic jam.

“There were many police officials who were checking motorbike riders,” he said.

“When I reached I-8, I found out that some motorbike riders had shot my brother. His companion, Asad Mehmood Abbasi, sitting by his side in the car was also killed.

“My brother’s widow, 11-year-old daughter and three sons now live in Golra.

“I have been taking care of the entire family though we get some help from Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ),” he added. He claims the police are not much help.

“Intelligence agencies know who are behind the assassinations but they are not ready to take action against them. I think that such targeted killing cannot be carried out without the involvement and information of intelligence agencies,” he said Mufti Muneer is not the only member of ASWJ who has been assassinated in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in recent months.

As many as 13 members of the organisation have been killed during the last 10 months.

All of them were shot and killed.

On December 20, 2013, Advocate Mazhar Mubarak, 21, resident of Nawab Colony Dhoke Hassu, was leaving his house along with his family when three people on a motorbike opened fire on him.

Mazhar died and his two sisters were injured. Their mother escaped unharmed.

Mazhar’s brother, High Court Advocate Asghar Mubarak, told Dawn that Mazhar was representing the Shias, who had been nominated in the case registered after the incident at Raja Bazaar on Ashura (November 15, 2013), which left 10 people dead and 44 injured.

Fighting had broken out that day between the Shia members of the procession and Sunnis from a nearby mosque. The consequent rioting forced the government to impose curfew in the city.

“I pursued the case and luckily the Koral police arrested three men who confessed to killing my brother,” Mubarik said.

“Mohammad Qasim alias Lala, Kashif Ushaq and Anas Qayyum were shifted to Ratta Amral police station. According to the challan submitted to court, the suspects said they were trained in Afghanistan and initially they belonged to Harakatul Mujahideen (HUM), which later renamed itself as Ansarul Ummah,” he said.

“A member of the group used to work nearby because of which he was aware of our family’s movements,” he said.

Mazhar is not the only Shia who has fallen victim to target killing.

In April 2014, armed motorcyclists killed Syed Ibrar Hussain Shah in Dhoke Syedan. Mr Shah was shot in the head.

Recent months have seen a spate of targeted attacks on several individuals, the motive behind them is clearly sectarian.

After Mufti Muneer Muavia’s death, Qari Mohammad Arif and Darwesh Khan were killed in Rawalpindi. Hafiz Sohail Muavia was killed near Khanna Bridge.

ASWJ member, Abu Bakar, and Izharul Haq Farooqi were murdered on Khayaban-i-Sir Syed. Mufti Imran was killed while he was coming out of his house near Adiala Road, Rawalpindi.

Mufti Ishtiaq and Qari Nasir Mehmood Abbasi were members of ASWJ Tarnol Zone; they were killed on the same day at Murree Road.

On July 17, ASWJ leaders Qari Saifullah and Aslam Shakir were shot dead by motorbike riders near the Dhamial airbase.

Sectarian harmony with Jillani

In May 2014, in Hasanabdal, Dr Faisal Manzoor, who ran a medical centre in the town, was shot and killed as he came out of his hospital.

Earlier in March, target killers took the life of Dr Badar Ali in Hasanabdal. He was a relative of Dr Faisal Manzoor.

In April 2014, in Chaman Zar, motorbike riders tried to kill Sain Goga, who received as many as seven bullet wounds but survived. Sain Goga was a Shia and a custodian of the Chaman Zar shrine.

Professor Imrani of Hashmat Ali Islamia College Dhoke Kashmirian was going to college on a cold January morning when two men on a motorbike pumped six bullets into his body but he survived as well.

Hafiz Oneeb Farooqi, who is a member of ASWJ, told Dawn that all its members were shot by motorbike riders, arguing that this showed that the killings were carried out by the same people.

All the slain members were shot in the head or face, which shows that the killers wanted to ensure that they did not survive,” he said.

“The government has never paid any compensation to the families of the AWSJ members who were killed,” he added.

“Because of the frequency of incidents, ASWJ cannot move freely,” he said.

Also read: In Islamabad, more sectarian killings in past year than preceding decade

On the other hand, Deputy Secretary General of Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) Rawalpindi, Rahat Kazmi said he himself had been threatened.

“In April this year, someone sent me a letter threatening to kill me unless I stopped working for the rights of the Shias. Just two days after the letter, someone wrote ‘Shia Kafir’ on the wall of my house,” he said.

Secretary General MWM Rawalpindi Saeedul Hasan Naqvi told Dawn that despite the targeting of the Shia community in the cities, none of the MWM leaders had been attacked in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.He added that a number of Shias were threatened but they didn’t make the matter public.

“When Dr Faisal was shot dead in Hasanabdal, his relatives were not willing to protest the attack because they were scared of being targeted themselves,” he added.

“Shias from Rawalpindi went to Hasanabdal to protest,” he said.

On July 19, two motorcyclists opened fire at the office of Maulana Abdul Rehman Muavia, who belonged to ASWJ, at Rahmania Masjid, G-6.

On July 24, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi Akhtar Omer Hayat Laleka while talking to mediapersons claimed to have arrested two suspects involved in the target killing of ASWJ leader Mufti Imran Farooqi at Tulsa Road in May but he did not disclose the names of the suspects.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2014