When Muhammad bin Qasim was busy becoming the first Pakistani 1,200 years before the country actually came into being, the Umayyads were busy sidelining the Shia in the hub of Islam. Abbassids, Ottomans and Mughals dutifully followed their lead as Shia oppression spread from the Middle East into South Asia.
As far as the history of the subcontinent is concerned, Mahmud Ghaznavi was the first to orchestrate Shia genocide in the region, when he butchered the Ismaeili Shia in Multan in 1,005 AD. The fact that he managed to massacre even more Hindus and destroyed temples as well, further rubberstamped his legacy as a “true Pakistani”.
During the Mughal era the 10 Taraajs – Taraj-e-Shia – between the 16th and 19th century, saw barefaced attempts to obliterate Shia habitations. The community was forced to hide its faith as village after village was being erased, leading to a massive Shia exodus.
Shiaphobes like the king Aurangzaib Alamgir and scholar Shah Abdur Rahim – Shah Waliullah’s father – combined to compile the Fatwa-e-Alamgiri, ‘officially’ excommunicating the Shia and creating a takfiri template that the likes of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) – formerly Sipahe-e-Sahaba – still follow.
