Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to violence directed against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's religious sect. As many as 4,000 Shia (a Muslim minority group) are estimated to have been killed in sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987 and 2007, and thousands more Shia have been killed by Sunni extremists from 2008 to 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Sunni (the largest Muslim sect) Deobandis and Barelvis have also suffered from some sectarian violence, with attacks on religious shrines killing hundreds of (usually Bareelvi) worshippers (more orthodox Sunni believing shrine culture to be idolatrous), and some Deobandi leaders assassinated. Pakistan minority religious groups, including Hindus, Ahmadis, and Christians, have "faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution" in at least two recent years (2011 and 2012), according to Human Rights Watch. One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan is that militants often target their victims places of worship during prayers or religious services in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".
Among those blamed for the sectarian violence in the country are mainly Deobandi militant groups, such as the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and also the Jundallah (an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan "has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks" on Shia according to Human Rights Watch. In recent years the Barelvi group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (Labbaik) has been credited with instigating much violence. Salafi militant groups (such as Islamic State) are also blamed for attacks on Shias, Barelvis and Sufis. As of 2022, violent sectarian groups continue to expand their influence across the country, with less violence from SSP and LeJ, but more from Labbaik and the Islamic State, and limited response from the state to counter their large-scale attacks.
Sectarian Violence in Pakistan: 1989-2018
Terminology
Sectarian refers to sects or religious groups in this article. Although "Sectarianism" can refer to conflict between ethnic, political and cultural as well as religious groups, and there is sometimes an overlap between religious and ethnic groups and fights (according to the U.S. Library of Congress, violence is often based on "different social, political, and economic statuses that correlate with religion" rather than religious doctrine; the Pakistan military, for example, has allegedly used the Deobandi sectarian group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi "as a proxy to counter Baloch separatist militants"), in the context of Pakistan, sectarian usually refers to sects or religious groups. (For ethnic and regional separatist violence in Pakistan, see Separatist movements of Pakistan.)
Sectarian violence is not exclusively non-governmental. In literature on "sectarian groups" in Pakistan, the groups referred to are non-governmental, but governmental actors have been accused of sectarianism and aiding sectarian groups. Police have been accused of refusing to prevent sectarian acts, of refusing "to charge persons who commit them", and government officials have been accused of helping the formation of sectarian terror groups. (For example General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq helped Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP)) though this doesn't mean that SSP didn't attempt to kill other government officials (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab police investigating SSP crimes) some years later. And if sectarian violence includes forced disappearances, than police in Pakistan have also been accused of sectarian violence.
Sectarian violence is often, but not necessarily, terrorist (attacks on unarmed civilians) in Pakistan, but there have also been violence between armed sectarians.
Religions and sects
Muslims
Approximately 97% of Pakistanis are either Sunni or Shia Muslims, the two largest religious groups in Pakistan. In Pakistan as worldwide, Shia Islam constitutes a minority and Sunni a majority of Muslims. Estimates of the size of these groups vary—adherents of Shi'a Islam in Pakistan are thought to make up between 9 and 15% of the population, (roughly 30 million), and Sunni between 70 and 75%, (according experts such as the Library of Congress, Pew Research Center, Oxford University, the CIA World Factbook). While the overwhelming majority of Shia in Pakistan (and around the world) are "Twelver" Shia (aka Asna-e-Ashari), there are smaller Shi'i sects, such as varieties of Ismaili.