Pakistan will go to the polls later this year against a background of deadly bombings, mounting inter-Islamic tensions and continuing strains with its big neighbour, India.
Target for the bombings are the minority Shi’ite Muslims with the chief perpetrator being the Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangyi, or LeJ.
In the middle are the Pakistan security forces and the Pakistan People’s Party Government of Asif Ali Zardari who have faced mounting outrage over their failure to protect the civilian population.
The latest attack, in which more than 80 died, took place in Quetta, capital of the Balochistan Province, prompting the Governor, Nawab Zulfikar Ali Magsi, to demand to know why law enforcement agencies were not doing their job.
“They are either too scared or too clueless even to know who they are dealing with,” Magsi was reported as saying.
The death toll brings to more than 400 the number of Shi’ites killed in Pakistan in the past 12 months, and already reprisals have begun, with attacks on Sunni clerics.
The split between Sunnis and Shi’ites goes back to the earliest days of Islam and has been a constant source of violence down the centuries.
A sectarian war is the last thing Pakistan needs as it faces a continuing battle with al-Qaeda-backed extremists in the north of the country.
In addition, the long-standing dispute with India over the future of Kashmir Province is no closer to resolution, while a decision to hand over control of the strategic port of Gwadar to a state-owned Chinese company has alarmed New Delhi, which sees it as part of Beijing’s plan to expand its naval reach into the Indian Ocean.
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