pakistan English news | pakistan, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

There has been a surge in sectarian violence in Pakistan in recent days with state-backed extremists targeting minorities including Shias and the Ahmadi community.A report in Asia Times said Pakistan is reeling under a new surge of sectarian violence targeting Shia and other religious minorities across the country, threatening new rounds of instability in the Muslim majority nation.The minorities have been subjected to various forms of oppression in the country with tacit support of state. Incident of abduction and forced marriages of girls from minority communities are often reported.According to the report, over the last month, four people including two Shia Muslims, one Ahmadi sect member and a US citizen who renounced the Ahmadi sect have been brutally gunned down for apparent religious reasons.In the same period, around 50 people mostly belonging to the Shia sect were booked under different section of blasphemy law which have been used as a tool to persecute the minorities.Last week, thousands of people rallies in Karachi in massive anti-Shia demonstration which clearly had the backing of security agencies and authorities.The rally pelted an imambargah (Shiite religious place) with stones as unruly radical Sunni mobs went berserk in the Imamia Lines Area, the report said.Worryingly, the report said, Pakist Prime Minister Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is inciting religious violence by exhorting people to kill those who negate the finality of Prophet Muhammad.Citing a 2019 report by Pakist think tank, it said 28 Shia and two Ahmadis were killed in targeted attacks, while 58 others were injured in related violence.Social media in Pakistan was filled with posts, photographs and videos of the protest, in which a sea of protestors was seen chanting "Shias are Kaffir" (disbelievers) and holding banners of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a terrorist orgsation, linked to the killing of Shias over the years.Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan and people convicted are given death penalty for allegedly making insensitive remarks on Islam. In the last few decades, sectarian violence has gripped Pakistan with Shia and Ahmadi believers being attacked and their shrines targetted.( With inputs from ANI )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

PakistanFOLLOW

Pakistan, Latest News

In a big revelation exposing the double standards of Pakistan, the country, despite the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) sword hanging over its head, continues to harbour terrorists and is giving VIP treatment to many of them including underworld d ...

A total of 58 packets of drugs and two pistols were seized during a search operation after the suspicious movement of 3-4 persons was observed on zero line in Pakistan side at BSF border outpost, Budhwar on Sunday. ...

Pakistan on Friday rejected India's demand that an Indian lawyer or a Queen counsel should be appointed in Kulbhushan Jadhav case to ensure free and fair trail. ...

Srinagar, Sep 18 Indian and Pakistan armies traded heavy fire on the Line of Control (LoC) in Gurez ... ...

Highlighting the atrocities comitted by Pakistan in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), Amjad Ayub Mirza, an activist from PoK, told the United Nations that people in the region are "desperate" for freedom from Pakistan government and want to join the u ...

Islamabad, Sep 18 The total number of polio cases in Pakistan so far this year has reached 72, ... ...

Islamabad, Sep 18 Pakistan will set up three markets along the borders with Afghanistan and Iran by February ... ...

There has been a surge in sectarian violence in Pakistan in recent days with state-backed extremists targeting minorities including Shias and the Ahmadi community. ...