Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan

Sipah-e-Muhammad
سپاہ محمد صلی الله علیہ وآلہ وسلم
Leader Syed Ghulam Raza Naqvi (imprisoned 1996, freed 2014)
Slogan "Humiliation of us is impossible." (Arabic: هيهات منا الذلة‎)
Founded 1994 (officially)
Headquarters Thokar Niaz Beg, Lahore, Pakistan
Ideology Protection of Shi'a community, armed resistance to Wahhabi/Takfiri terrorism and target killing
Religion Shia, Shiite
Colors Black and Yellow
        
Parliament of Pakistan
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Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (S.M.P) (Urdu: سپاہ محمد پاکستان‎; Arabic: سباه محمد الباكستانيه‎; English: Soldiers of Muhammad) is a Shiite Islamic militant group and a former political party based in Pakistan that was formed in the early 1990s (the exact date of formation is not known) as a response to sectarian violence against Pakistani Shiite Muslims orchestrated by Deobandi militant movement such as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (also known Lashkar-e-Jhangvi). On August 14, 2001, it was banned by President Pervez Musharraf as a terrorist organisation. However, its influence is also supposed to be in India.

History

During the 1980s, Zia-ul-Haq allowed and encouraged the militant Deobandi Islamization of Pakistan. One of the organizations that arose in this period was the Sipah-e-Sahaba, a Deobandi-supremacist militant group that considered the Shiite Muslim minority to be 'infidels'. The Deobandi militia Sipah-e-Sahaba targeted Shiite mosques, community leaders, as well as Iranian visitors and diplomats.[1] They orchestrated the assassination of Iranian diplomat Sadiq Ganji in Lahore, Pakistan. They were also involved in the killings of Iranian Air Force cadets visiting Pakistan in the early 1990s, when sectarian attacks on Shiite Muslims in Pakistan were at their peak. Both acts occurred in the northern city of Rawalpindi and greatly disturbed contemporary Pakistan-Iran relations.

In response to this, Maulana Mureed Abbas Yazdani is believed to have formed Sipah-e-Muhammad as a splinter of the larger and more mainstream, Shiite political organization, Tehreek-e-Jaferia Pakistan (Movement of Shiites, Pakistan), since that organization was not encouraging a violent response to the Sipah-e-Sahaba's attacks.[2]

Activities

Sipah-e-Muhammad's primary aim was to target the leaders of the banned Deobandi militia Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. However, with the subsequent rise in the violence against Shiite Muslims, it was thought to be reforming.[3]

The movement was strong in various Shiite communities in Pakistan, and in the majority Shiite town of Thokar Niaz Baig ran a "virtual state within a state" in the 1990s.[4]

Military operations

According to the sources , following operations have been conducted by Sipah-e-Muhammad. However, it denies carrying out any of these attacks:

The leaders of the Sipah-e-Sahaba (also known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi) that were assassinated by Sipah-e-Muhammad were also affiliated with the Taliban and its sub-groups in Pakistan.

Affiliations

Sipah-e-Muhammad is thought to have ties with the Iranian regime although this claim is not yet proven, and to an extent, the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba is also seen as attempt by the Saudi government to assert influence in Pakistan.[5]

Designation as a terrorist organization

The Government of Pakistan designated the Sipah-e-Muhammad a terrorist organization, and it is classified as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under U.S. law. As a result, its finances are blocked worldwide by the U.S government.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rory McCarthy Death by design Guardian (UK). Friday May 17, 2002
  2. ↑ SATP.org Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan
  3. ↑ Daily Times.com Vengeance, frictions reviving LJ and Sipah-e-Muhammad. April 7th, 2004
  4. ↑ Ravinder Kaur. Religion, violence, and political mobilisation in South Asia . SAGE, 2005. ISBN 0-7619-3431-6, ISBN 978-0-7619-3431-8
  5. ↑ Jamestown Foundation Sipah-e-Sahaba: Fomenting Sectarian Violence in Pakistan