1988 Gilgit Massacre | |
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Part of Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization of Pakistan | |
Location | Gilgit District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan |
Coordinates | 35°48′09″N 74°59′00″E / 35.8026°N 74.9832°E |
Date | 16–18 May 1988[1][2] Pakistan Standard Time (UTC+5:00) |
Target | Shia Muslims |
Attack type | Immolation, mass shooting, lynching, arson, mass rape |
Deaths | 300–700[3] |
Injured | 100+ |
Perpetrators | Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, General Mirza Aslam Beg,[4] Brigadier Pervez Musharraf,[4][5] Special Services Group of the Pakistan Army[5] |
Assailants |
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Motive | Anti-Shi'ism, Sunni supremacism |
The 1988 Gilgit massacre was the state-sponsored mass killing of Shia civilians in the Gilgit District of Pakistan who revolted against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's Sunni Islamist regime, responsible for vehement persecution of religious minorities as part of its Islamization program.[4][5][6]
The massacre was preceded by anti-Shia riots in early May 1988, which were caused by a dispute over the sighting of the moon for Eid al-Fitr after Ramadan between Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims. Local Sunnis, who were still fasting for Ramadan, had attacked the local Shias who had announced their commencement of Eid celebrations in Gilgit City, leading to violent clashes between the two sects.[7][8][9] In response to the riots and revolt against Zia-ul-Haq's regime, the Pakistan Army led an armed group of local Sunni tribals from Chilas, accompanied by Osama bin Laden-led Sunni militants from Afghanistan as well as Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province into Gilgit City and adjoining areas in order to suppress the revolt. It is estimated that anywhere between 150 and 900 Shia Muslims were killed in the resulting massacre and violence, in which entire villages were also burnt down. The massacre also saw the mass rape of hundreds of Shia Muslim women by Sunni tribesmen.[7][10][6]
Levy Scott-Clarke
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Bansal lesson
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).A revolt by the Shias of Gilgit was ruthlessly suppressed by the Zia-ul Haq regime in 1988, killing hundreds of Shias. An armed group of tribals from Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier Province, led by Osama bin Laden, was inducted by the Pakistan Army into Gilgit and adjoining areas to suppress the revolt.Raman, B (7 October 2003). "The Shia Anger". Outlook. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
Because they have not forgotten what happened in 1988. Faced with a revolt by the Shias of the Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), under occupation by the Pakistan Army, for a separate Shia State called the Karakoram State, the Pakistan Army transported Osama bin Laden's tribal irregulars into Gilgit and let them loose on the Shias. They went around massacring hundreds of Shias – innocent men, women, and children."The AQ Khan Proliferation Highway - III". Outlook India. Retrieved 29 November 2020."The Forgotten J&K". Outlook India. Retrieved 29 November 2020.