I clearly remember the good old days of forty years ago when our society was in perfect state of religious harmony. There were not debates on controversial or sectarian issues. There were no speeches on controversial and sectarian issues on the loudspeakers of mosques. The Imams of mosques had simple lifestyle. They had no Parados/ Pajeros or enormeous bank balances.
Sectarianism began to grow in Pakistan when the oil boom of the Middle East started pouring riyals and petrodollars into our religious institutions. The revolution of Iran further aggravated the situation when Khomeni vowed to spread his revolution to the other Islamic countries. The worst contribution to sectarianism was rendered by Zia’s govt. . The Zia’s govt. strengthened the sectarian organizations to take part in the Afghan war.
At present, the same sectarianism has started causing bloodshed among the Muslims themselves. What is really feared is a civil war among Deobandis and Barelvis. Both factions are armed to teeth and growing hatred among them can result into a civil war anytime.
All the sensible Muslim Pakistani brethern need to contribute their efforts to save our beloved from a possible civil war.
