Source/Credit: Dawn.com
The killing of 13 Shia Muslims in Quetta today is a grim reminder of how intolerant Pakistan has become when it comes to religious freedom. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s report ‘State of Human Rights in 2010’, 418 people have been killed in various attacks on Muslim sects, including 211 in suicide bombing last year. Here’s a look at some of the incidents that have claimed the lives of Pakistanis over the last two decades.
1997
12 members of a Shia family were killed during a Majlis. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) leader Malik Ishaq was arrested but was released later due to lack of evidence.
The same year, Malik Ishaq was alleged to have bombed the Iranian culture centre in Multan. Eight people were killed. 1n 2006, Ishaq was released due to lack of evidence.
28 October, 2001
A Protestant Church was attacked in Bahawalpur, Punjab. The incident left16 dead, all Christians except one, and 6 injured.
26 February, 2002
At least 11 Shia worshipers were killed by indiscriminate firing by a group of masked gunmen at the Shah-i-Najaf Mosque in Rawalpindi.
17 March, 2002
Yet another attack on a Protestant church with in a span of six months left five persons, including a US diplomat’s wife and daughter, dead and 40 others injured.
7 May 2002
Noted religious scholar Prof Dr Ghulam Murtaza Malik, his driver and a policeman were shot dead by two gunmen in Iqbal Town, Lahore.
9 August, 2002
Four people were killed after terrorists attacked a Church located in the premises of the Taxila Christian Hospital, in Taxila, northern Punjab.
25 September, 2002
Gunmen stormed the offices of a Christian welfare organisation in Karachi, tied seven office workers to their chairs before shooting each in the head at close range.
25 December, 2002
An attack on the Presbyterian Church in Daska, near Sialkot left three young girls dead.
8 June, 2003
11 Pakistani police trainees were shot dead in what is believed to have been a sectarian attack on Sariab Road, Quetta, as they all belonged to Hazara Shi’a branch of Islam. Another nine were reported wounded.[27]
June 8, 2003
12 Shia Hazara police cadets were gun downed in Quetta. LJ claimed responsibility of the attack.
4 July, 2003
At least 47 people were killed and 150 injured in an attack on an Imambargah in Quetta.
28 February, 2004
An apparent suicide bomber was killed and three worshipers were injured in an attack on Imambargah in Satellite Town, Rawalpindi.
Categories: Pakistan