RNA – In an exclusive interview with Rasa News Agency, Allamah Rajah Nasir Abbas Jafari, the Central Secretary-General of Pakistan’s Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, explained the dire situation facing Pakistani Shi’a Muslims over the past few years, saying that Pakistan witnessed the formation of Takfiri groups and militarized splinter groups three decades ago.
The Pakistani Shi’a leader added that Pakistan has also witnessed pursuit of certain political policies in the country and these issues have led to the strengthening of such groups in the country.
He said that the oppression of Shi’as in Pakistan began at the same time began and gradually increased. Shi’as were considered infidels by the Takfiris and shedding their blood and taking their lives and property were deemed permissible. They even considered shedding Shi’a blood as the best policy.
Allamah Jafari said that as time passed, terrorist acts against Shi’as in Pakistan increased so that today’s car bombs, suicide bombs and the massacre of Shi’as has become a common practice.
“In opposition, we used a variety of ways to demonstrate the innocence of our people, including protests and dialogue with the government,” the senior cleric said.
“However,” the revered Pakistani scholar said, “We have repeatedly stressed to the government that these actions will destroy our country and increase the danger of division and partition of Pakistan. We asked the government to protect the working people but unfortunately this did not happen. No doubt the country where one group can consider another group as heretics, is no longer considered a place of safety but rather, it resembles a battlefield.”
His Eminence said that the killing of Pakistani Shi’a began in Gilgit-Baltistan and gradually spread to Quetta and Karachi and has recently spread to Punjab and Parachinar.
The Central Secretary-General of Pakistan’s Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen said that we have seen the killing of Shi’as everywhere in Pakistan. We even held a funeral for our martyrs in front of a protest rally in order that the voice of the oppressed would be heard.
He emphasized that the Pakistani Shi’as have consistently called for the arrest and punishment of the perpetrators of these crimes in order to protect the country from the fire of sedition but this has not had any effect.
“On the other hand, we do not want the crimes of the Takfiri terrorists to be forgotten in any way. Some thought that we would be silent out of fear of the Takfiris,” he added.
He said that the Takfiris have attempted to spread hatred against the Shi’a such that the Shi’a youth cannot be comfortable even in the colleges and universities.
Allamah Jafari said the Takfiris want us to abandon our beliefs and want us to stop our mourning ceremonies for Imam al-Husayn and not object to the current situation and like some Arab rulers who hide their beliefs, they want us to abandon our recitation of elegies and mourning ceremonies, which our survival depends on.
“But we will never do this,” he stressed.
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