Yes, Iran did back Northern Alliance against the Taliban..............do u consider the Talibans, or any group that spills the blood of innocent human beings, a Muslim? what did the 4th caliph do with the kharijiites?
Yes the schism is that old, unfortunately the barbarism and bloodshed has only increased. The last thing I want to do is to declare who is ans who isn't a muslim.
the link that you ve provided is not working so kindly repost........anyway.....do u reckon then that Shia triggered the whole war then? are there any Sunnis living in Parachinar now or they were all kicked out?
It is useless to argue who did what first. Anyway, here is the article.
Monday, October 19, 2009
By Farhat Taj
Until recently when I heard about Sunni IDPs in Kohat from Parachinar, my own perception was that Parachinar was a 100 per cent Shia town and the Sunnis living there were Afghan refugees. I had this perception despite the fact that I belong to a Pakhtun area with mixed Shia-Sunni population that is not far from Parachinar. Moreover, I have seen Shias from Parachinar becoming victims of most barbaric acts of terrorism committed by the Waziristan-based Taliban.
I decided to meet the Sunni IDPs from Parachinar in Kohat. Later, I also had separate meetings with Shia and Sunni tribal elders from Parachinar. It turned out that there is a native Sunni Pakhtun minority in Parachinar: about 6,000 people. They belong to Zazi, Ghilji, Parachamkani, Ali Sherzai, Mengal, Muqbal and Utayzai tribes. The biggest tribe in Parachinar is Shia Toori. The Shia section of the Bangash tribe also lives there.
For centuries both Shia and Sunni tribes lived in peace under the tribal code of Pakhtunwali. Most disputes were peacefully resolved through jirga. Clashes were tribal rather than sectarian. In April 2007 there was a brawl in Parachinar among people linked with external sectarian organisations. The clash soured relations between Shai and Sunni Pakhtuns in the town. In November 2007 there was another clash in which many Sunni tribesmen, women and children were killed, their houses and businesses were burnt and a number of them were made to flee Parachinar. They now live as IDPs in many parts of NWFP.
In Kohat there are 120 IDP families from Parachinar. They live in a deplorable condition in rented houses. I saw sick children whose parents had no money to buy medicine. There were widows with no one to care for and children who wanted to attend school, as they did in Parachinar, but have ended up doing child labour. The IDPs alleged that the extremist elements within the majority sect in Parachinar rumoured that there were Taliban among them, encircled their neighbourhoods and staged the carnage. It makes it easier to kill your adversary if you name them as the Taliban, because the word Taliban has become a symbol of hate among the tribal people. They said that in some houses there were no men at the time of attack and minor children and women were besieged and fired upon. A mother told me of her son, Azam Khan, who she made to take up a machine gun and fire in defence. The boy was 14 years old at the time and a student of class seven. She said that she asked her son to kill her and his sisters before the attackers broke into their house. She wept and said that she wished to see her son become a doctor and never thought she would make her take up a machine gun.
They told me that for seven days they remained under siege. There was no food and water. No one came to help them. After seven days, a colonel came and ordered a house search in the neighbourhood in which he found no Taliban. Everyone was a permanent resident of the area. The residents were evacuated by the security forces to Sadda, a Sunni majority area outside Parachinar. From Sadda they went to various parts of NWFP where they now live as IDPs. They were of the opinion that the Shia extremists punished them for atrocities committed against Shias in other parts of Pakistan.
Later I had separate meetings with Shia and Sunni tribal elders from Parachinar to discuss the situation. There were accusations, counter-accusations, claims and counter-claims. Both sides showed me video clips depicting acts of terrorism committed against each side. Unless there is a proper impartial investigation, it is difficult to say who did what and how.
The fact is that both Shias and Sunnis have greatly suffered in sectarian clashes. Parachinar remained cut off from the rest of Pakistan for three years while Shias were publicly beheaded in areas outside the town. The other fact is that both sides have been abandoned by the state. For seven days the Sunnis were fired upon and no state help came. In two years many IDPs have not even been registered by the government. Those who have been registered by the government have received little state help. For Shias of Parachinar it is still very unsafe to travel on Parachinar-Peshawar road.
Both Shia and Sunni tribal elders hold state policies vis-a-vis Afghanistan responsible for the death and destruction in Parachinar. The Shia elders said that Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists ran into Waziristan after the US bombed them in Afghanistan. The terrorists sought passage via Parachinar to Kabul, because this is the shortest route to the Afghan capital. The Toori tribe flatly refused to provide the Taliban this safe passage and hence its current predicament where it is being punished by the Taliban.
Both sides hold individuals in official positions for playing a role in the ongoing tensions in Kurram and in particular Parachinar. The Shia elders alleged that two political agents of the area asked them to facilitate the Taliban’s movement or be ready for the consequences. Fortunately however, elders from both sides are keen to restore the excellent relations that the two groups have always had in the past. They agreed that in essence the sectarian tension in Parachinar is the tribal rivalry between the Toori, who are Shia, and the Mangal, who are Sunni, over resources like land and water. Had there not been so many external forces involved, the Toori and Mangal tribes would find a solution while the rest would act as bystanders. Due to external pressures, both Tooris and Mengals have dragged other tribes into the rivalry along sectarian lines. One group of tribal elders accused a foreign-funded jihadi madressah around Parachinar of spreading sectarian violence. The other group of elders held a religious scholar from Gilgit and interference by one of Pakistan’s neighbours as being behind the atmosphere of intolerance. Elders of both sects also alleged that a local, with links to the Sipah-e-Sahaba, was fomenting the sectarian disharmony.
The mainly Sunni Ali Khel tribe in Orakzai agency stood up to the Taliban when they threatened the Shia section of their tribe. Both Shia and Sunni tribal elders met in a grand jirga to work out the details of an anti-Taliban lashkar. The jirga was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing over 100 tribal elders. Orakzai was taken over by the Taliban after the mass killing of the Ali Khel tribal leadership and everyone — the majority Sunni and minority Shia and Sikh communities — suffered under the Taliban occupation.
In any civilised society the majority has a responsibility to protect the minority. It is the turn of the Shia tribal elders of Parachinar to do what the Ali Khels did in Orakzai.
The writer is a research fellow at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Research, University of Oslo, and a member of Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy. Email: bergen34@yahoo .com