Sectarian violence (1988)

In 1988 a revolt by the Shias of Gilgit (in northern Kashmir region under Pakistani administration) was ruthlessly suppressed by the Zia-ul Haq regime. The Pakistan Army led an armed group of Sunni tribals, from Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier Province, into Gilgit and its surrounding areas to suppress the revolt.

Shias alleged discrimination by the Pakistani government since 1948, claiming that Sunnis were given preference in business, official positions and the administration of justice. On 5 July 1977, General Zia-ul-Haq led a coup d'etat, and committed himself to establishing an Islamic state and enforcing sharia law. Zia's state sponsored Islamization increased sectarian divisions in Pakistan between Sunni and Shia and between Deobandis and Barelvis. The Pakistani government leaned in favour of applying Sunni law to all. Attacks on Shias increased under the presidency of Zia-ul-Haq. Pakistan`s first major Shia-Sunni riots erupted in 1983 in Karachi during the Shia holiday of Muharram, leaving at least sixty people dead. Further Muharram disturbances followed over another three years, spreading to Lahore and the Baluchistan region and leaving hundreds more dead. In July 1986, Sunnis and Shias, a number of them equipped with locally made automatic weapons, clashed in the northwestern settlement of Parachinar, where an estimated over 200 died.