Muzaffarpur Shia Community holds one-day sit-in protests against the Parachinar killings

The Shia community in India’s city of Muzaffarpur in Bihar province held one-day sit-in protests in the District Administration premises near the Company Bagh area on 3 August 2024 against the recent killings of besieged Shia Muslims in the Parachinar area of Kurram Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.

The protests were held under the leadership of Maulana Syed Mohammad Kazim ‘Shabib,’ Friday prayer leader of local Shia Jama Masjid of Mohalla Kamra at Chandwara in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. Hundreds of protesters raised slogans and expressed their outrage against the brutal killings perpetrated by the terrorists of Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other Takfiri outfits. The event was staged in solidarity with those who were killed and injured in the spate of sectarian attacks.

Maulana Shabib Kazim, as he is popularly known, condemned the deliberate negligence of the security forces in preventing the killings of Shia Muslims in the holy month of Muharram. He demanded the immediate operation against the Takfiri terrorists and they should be brought to justice with utmost priority. It was against the Islamic principles for the local anti-Shia people to block the ambulance on the roads from taking injured persons to the hospital. In his memorandum submitted to the President of India through the Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Subrat Kumar Sen, Maulana demanded the Government of India including the Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and Defence Minister should raise this precarious issue through various diplomatic channels and make Pakistan to stop the violence against the beleaguered Shia minority in the country.

Reacting on the reports of intervention of Pakistani security agencies and Takfiri gangs in the Majalis-e Aza (Commemoration of Imam Hussain and other martyrs of Karbala) during the month of Muharram that was being organised across the country demanded safety and security and non-intervention in such events because it is a matter of fundamental rights and religious freedom. Maulana Shabib Kazim has been relentlessly confronting the corrupt nexus of Bihar State Shia Waqf Board high ranking officials, land grabbing mafias and some corrupt government officials, who are hell bent on grabbing the lucrative Shia Waqf lands and properties in the Bihar province in India.

Another Shia cleric Maulana Syed Tahir Hussain said in his address that justice should be served to the Shia people of Parachinar immediately so that everyone can live in peace and harmony. He demanded immediate medical and other humanitarian aid to the affected families and individuals. He also urged the leaders of the Sunni community of Pakistan to show courage and speak out against the Takfiri activities of these fringe elements prospering in the society.

Maulana Aqeel Abbas, another Shia cleric who addressed the protesters condemned the killings of unarmed civilians and demanded the international organisations to take serious note of recent bloodbath and pressurise Pakistani authorities to take actions against the Takfiri outfits so that it cannot further kill innocent Shia Muslims and if unchecked they can move deeper into India’s territory to carry out sabotage activities.

Many protesters were seen holding the placards and chanting against the Shia killings in Pakistan. After the sit-in protests a delegation submitted the memorandum in the District Magistrate office.