BJP, Naqvi Should Help Pakistani Shias

I spent part of my youth in Lucknow. I remember that during Muharram, there always used to be Shia-Sunni riots. In fact all the while I was there, We did not have any Hindu-Muslim riots but we used to get article 144 or curfews enforced during Muharram. I hear a Sunni guy call out to a shia saying: “Abe too aadmi hai yah shia?” Such is the hatred that the sunnis nurse for their estranged cousins. In the toilet called Pakistan, there have been two blasts this year. One claimed 106 Shias and the other 84. Pretty impressive kill rate even for the murdering pakis! So bad is the situation that a Pakistan journalist is suggesting that the Shias flee Pakistan. Here is what he writes:

As the Shia massacres in Pakistan gain momentum, the State, including the Superior Courts, appear completely impotent.

In such troubling times some Shias may have a choice. They may sit and wait for a messiah or relocate to a Shia-exclusive enclave elsewhere, or to escape from Pakistan altogether.

Space is fast running out in Shia graveyards in Quetta. It may be the time for Shias to relocate to protect their next generation.

Now this is clearly a fault line in Pakistan begging to be exploited. Just like the Balochis, we need to support the Pakistani Shias. Even if we do not actively help the helpless Shias, it will still keep the Pakistani leaders on the back foot. Ideally I would like the RAW dirty tricks department to arm these people but thanks to IK Gujral, that capability has been taken away from us. At the very least we can start raising awareness for the Shia plight in the international forum. Iran cannot do so because they are in the dumps themselves.

Of course the pseudo-secular Indian parties will never come to the help of Shias. As big a supporter as Mullayam or Mayawati or Congress or Mamta maybe of Muslims, they make a crucial distinction. They support the Muslims because they are the Muslim majority and thus will not do anything to hurt their vote bank. Who in India can then come to the aid of Pakistani Shias and help them while perpetuating India’s soft power in the world? It will have to be the BJP who are not beholden to Sunni votes but rather to human lives. My suggestion is that Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who is a Shia Muslim and a BJP stalwart, start talking about it in the press and raise as much awareness as possible. If need be, he should try to garner some international press as well. We may be able to help Shias (who are lesser of a problem to the world than Sunnis) and ourselves in the bargain

The article by the angry and frustrated pakistani journalist can be read at: http://dawn.com/2013/02/17/time-for-shias-to-leave-pakistan/