Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

Frontline Pakistan
a politically moderate community and had supported secular political
parties. But General Zia’s Islamization and the Iranian revolution
spurred them into political activism. The Islamic revolution in Iran
had inspired Shias everywhere. Tens of thousands of Shias gathered
in Islamabad in 1980 to protest their marginalization by the Sunni
majority, the biggest show of strength by the Pakistani Shia community. 7
It was also the period when a Shia political party known as Tehrik
Nifaz-e-Fiqh Jafaria (TNFJ) (Movement for the Implementation of Shia
Jurisprudence) was formed, a move reflecting the community’s newfound
assertiveness. As the only Shia Islamic state, Iran became the
centre for spiritual guidance and political support for most Pakistani
Shias. The military government and its Sunni allies perceived it as an
Iranian conspiracy to export its revolution to Pakistan. 8
The divide, deepened by the actions of the state, could never
be bridged. The Shia revolutionary idealism was followed by the
emergence of militant Sunni sectarian organizations. Sipah-e-Sahaba
Pakistan (SSP; Army of the Prophet’s Companions) was formed in 1985
by the fiery Deobandi cleric Haq Nawaz Jhangvi with a one-point anti-
Shia agenda. 9 A prayer leader at a mosque in the central Punjab city of
Jhang, he was reported to have close links with Pakistani intelligence
agencies. An offshoot of JUI, SSP represented a state-sponsored and
Saudi-backed movement against Pakistan’s pro-Iran Shia minority. 10 It
sought to turn Pakistan into a Sunni state.
A market district in southern Punjab, Jhang was the birthplace of
organized sectarian militancy in Pakistan, and the rise of SSP reflected
its socio-economic division in the area. The bazaar and merchants
supported the Sunni militant group in order to counter the Shia feudal
aristocracy which had traditionally dominated local politics. 11 With
funding from Saudi Arabia and some other Arab countries and tacit
support from the military regime, SSP extended its organization across
the country. It had a student wing, a welfare trust and a vast network
of local offices. The outfit also operated as a political party, regularly
contesting elections in Punjab province. 12 With almost a million cardholding
members, SSP emerged as one of the most well-knit Islamist
groups.
Initially the SSP cadres came from Deobandi and Ahle Hadith
madrasas, 13 which had proliferated during the anti-Soviet jihad. But
later it established its own madrasas mostly in Punjab and Karachi. It
also drew support from among the urban poor and middle classes and
received funds from expatriates in the Middle East.