Pakistani Sunnis stage rallies against Shia Muslims killings

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Moderate religious parties have staged mass rallies against a recent deadly attack on Shia Muslims that left a number of people dead in the volatile city of Rawalpindi.The major protest rallies took place in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi where demonstrators chanted slogans against the ongoing violence aimed at Shia Muslims across the militancy-riddled country.Leaders of different organizations, including the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat (ASWJ) and the Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) deplored the recent incident as a “heinous” attack against Shia Muslims and demanded the government to bring the perpetrators to justice.The protesters also expressed their "categorical rejection of hate speech and incitement to violence" against the Shia Muslims.The government has deployed thousands of police and paramilitary troops in all major cities to maintain order and prevent unwanted incidents.Meanwhile, the people across major cities of Pakistan have held a complete shutdown strike in response to the ongoing killings of Shia Muslims.Almost all institutions and businesses remained closed, and traffic stayed off the streets across the troubled city on Friday.The developments come after pro-Taliban extremist groups killed at least eight Shia Muslims and severely injured several others in Rawalpindi during Ashura processions on last Friday.This is also the latest deadly incident in a wave of violence against the Shia Muslim community in Pakistan.Human Rights Watch says hundreds of Shias were killed in Pakistan in 2012, which was the deadliest year on record for the Shia Muslim community.Reports say the anti-Shia terrorist group of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) was behind most of the attacks on Shia Muslims in Pakistan.This comes while Shia Muslims in Pakistan say the government must take decisive action against the forces involved in the targeted killings. They also accuse Islamabad of failing to provide security for the Muslim community.The country’s Shia leaders have called on the government to form a judicial commission to investigate the bloodshed.The killing of Shias has caused an international outrage, with rights groups and regional countries expressing concern over the ongoing deadly violence.Shias make up about one third of Pakistan’s population of over 180 million. /129