DeQoded: The Impact of Shi’a-Sunni Violence in India

Terror outfits have been using Islam to spread their agenda but Indian Muslims manage to stay immune to that.

DeQoded: The narrowing Shia-Sunni divide in India. (Photo: The Quint)

In the first part, we talked about the origins of the Shia-Sunni conflict and how it has now intensified in the Middle East.

But the situation in South Asia is worrying too.

After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 1996, thousands of Shias of the Hazara community were killed both by the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Hazara war refugees in Quetta, Pakistan were also targeted.

Within Pakistan, over the last decade sectarian violence has risen. Radical Sunni groups like the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have targeted the Shia community, even their prominent mosques in Karachi and Lahore.

The Islamic State has also been recruiting heavily in Pakistan.

So, what about India? India has nearly 140 MILLION muslims. But fortunately, only a handful have been tempted to join the Islamic State. Leading Indian Muslims, both Shia and Sunni, have condemned IS and called it ‘un-Islamic’.

In fact, Indian muslims have been immune to internal sectarian violence.

Part of a democratic, syncretic culture, India’s Muslims seem to be staying true to that essentially Indian character.