1988 Gilgit massacre

1988 Gilgit Massacre
Part of Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization of Pakistan
Location of the Gilgit District in Gilgit-Baltistan
LocationGilgit District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Coordinates35°48′09″N 74°59′00″E / 35.8026°N 74.9832°E / 35.8026; 74.9832
Date16–18 May 1988[1][2]
Pakistan Standard Time (UTC+5:00)
TargetShia Muslims
Attack type
Immolation, mass shooting, lynching, arson, mass rape
Deaths300–700[3]
Injured100+
PerpetratorsMuhammad Zia-ul-Haq,
General Mirza Aslam Beg,[4]
Brigadier Pervez Musharraf,[4][5]
Special Services Group of the Pakistan Army[5]
Assailants
MotiveAnti-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]

  1. ^ Ispahani, Mahnaz (2019). Roads and Rivals: The Political Uses of Access in the Borderlands of Asia. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-4591-1.
  2. ^ Sehri, Inam (2012). Judges and Generals of Pakistan Volume - I. Grosvenor House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78148-043-4.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Levy Scott-Clarke was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d Levy & Scott-Clark, Deception (2010), Chapter 13: "Undaunted, Musharraf had in 1988 been called on by General Beg to put down a Shia riot in Gilgit, in the north of Pakistan. Rather than get the Pakistan army bloodied, he inducted a tribal band of Pashtun and Sunni irregulars, many from the SSP [Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan] which had recently put out a contract on Bhutto, led by the mercenary Osama bin Laden (who had been hired by Hamid Gul to do the same four years earlier)."
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Bansal lesson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Raman, B (26 February 2003). "The Karachi Attack: The Kashmir Link". Rediiff News. Retrieved 31 December 2016. 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.
  7. ^ a b Shamil, Taimur (12 October 2016). "This Muharram, Gilgit gives peace a chance". Herald.
  8. ^ "How Pakistan altered demography of occupied Gilgit-Baltistan". MSN.
  9. ^ "The sectarian spectre in Gilgit-Baltistan: Part III". The News International. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  10. ^ Daniel Silander; Don Wallace; John Janzekovic (2016). International Organizations and The Rise of ISIL: Global Responses to Human Security Threats. Routledge. p. 37. ISBN 9781315536088.