Iran-Pakistan relations have plunged into a state of flux after the 03 January massacre of Hazara miners near Quetta in the blood soaked Baluchistan province of Pakistan.  Hazaras are Shia Muslims, and they look to Tehran for spiritual guidance since Iran is home to Shias and Shia shrines.

Senior Iranian Cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi has denounced the killing as barbaric. And came down heavily on Pak security agencies for their failure to curb the ‘great crisis’. He urged Islamabad to put an end to crimes against the Shias.

The Mach massacre was no less than the Karbala tragedy revisited for the Masooma Yaqoob Ali as all her male relatives including brother Sadiq have been wiped away.

There have been many ups and down in Iran’s relations with Pakistan though geo-political- economic and strategic interests are common to both.  Smuggling (Iran’s petrol and diesel to Pak and Pak rice and drugs to Iran) also binds them together.

Tehran accuses Islamabad of nurturing and sheltering an anti-Iranian militia at the behest of Washington for cross border attacks along their 900 km plus long border.

It is also unhappy at the macabre dance of violence being perpetuated by Taliban, which sports, like a proud badge, its linkages with Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - the acknowledged big boss of Islamist militia of all hues from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) to Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM).   

Then there is the Shia – Sunni divide at the root of their discord which refuses to die, and often leads to their diplomatic spat.    

There have been many ups and down in Iran’s relations with Pakistan though geo-political- economic and strategic interests are common to both. Smuggling (Iran’s petrol and diesel to Pak and Pak rice and drugs to Iran) also binds them together.

The January 3 Hazara killings were barbarism manifest. Eleven coal miners were kidnapped and slaughtered (their throats were slit) at the Mach coalfield of Bolan district, around 80 km from Quetta.  Four other miners were seriously injured. All of them shared a room near the mine where they worked. 

The massacre was no less than the Karbala tragedy revisited for the Masooma Yaqoob Ali family as all her male relatives including brother Muhammad Sadiq have been wiped away.  Sadiq was the sole bread earner of the family of ten - wife, two daughters, six sisters and an ailing father.   “There is no one left in the family to carry my brother’s body to the graveyard, offer prayers and to lower him in the grave,” Masooma was quoted as saying in The News International, a Karachi daily.  The six sisters performed the last rites of their brother and other relatives.

Expectedly, Iran became livid with rage. Ambassador in Islamabad conveyed to his hosts the concern of his government. Iranian students and clerics took to the streets to articulate their anger. 

Minutes after the ‘massacre’ news flashed on the TV screens, Iranians marched towards Pak embassy in Tehran and staged a demonstration.  “When will the Shias live in peace in your country”, they asked Pakistan Prime Minister.  A similar protest march took place in front of Pak Consulate at Zahedan on Jan 7. There are reports of such protest shows across Iran.  

Ever since Islamabad allowed Riyadh to become one of its presiding deities and pump primed the Taliban gene, Iran has become the guardian saint of Hazaras of Pakistan. It has helped them to survive in the face of anti-Shia pogroms carried out by Pak jihadist groups.

The past two decades have seen what Pakistani columnist, Iqra Nasir, terms as the “Infused Sectarian Violence” endured by the Shia Hazara community of Balochistan - sometimes through bomb blasts and sometimes through targeted killings. “Hazaras have been consistently targeted by terrorists and their facilitators. So many people have been killed that a funeral has taken place in almost every house. There are many houses in which there are no men left. Hundreds of wives became widows, thousands of children orphaned”, Iqra wrote in Lahore’s Daily Times five days after the latest blood bath.

 An estimated 2,000 Hazara Shias have been killed across Pakistan since 2004.

The spurt in anti-Shia narrative is a sequel to an anti-Shia law adopted by the legislature of Punjab province, which is the cradle of jihadis, who are Sunni Islamists to the core.   The Tahaffuz-e-Bunyad-e-Islam (Protection of Foundation of Islam) Bill adopted in July 2020 is blatantly anti-Shia. It paved the way for anti-Shia rallies to instill a sense of awe and fear of Sunni majoritarianism.      

Pakistan and its permanent establishment, the Army, have been brought up on a diet of unilateralism on the borders with India and Afghanistan. This tendency is becoming increasingly manifest on the border with Iran as well, to the dismay and annoyance of Iranians.

Media reports say the situation along the Iran-Pak border is not too cordial. In what is no more than a calibrated effort to put Islamabad on notice, Iranian authorities closed the Zero Point Gate at the border town of Taftan five months ago.

It is through this gate that Pakistanis in the border region get their daily use items. The closure affected their day-to-day life.  And they staged a noisy protest, which, by a strange coincidence, took place on the very day the Shia miners were butchered near Quetta.  Pakistani Consulate in Zahedan took up the issue with Iranian officials and made out a strong case for early re-opening of the gate.   The request has not yet been heeded. A clear message to Pakistan that mutuality of interests guide bilateral relations!  

Pakistan and its permanent establishment, the Army, have been brought up on a diet of unilateralism on the borders with India and Afghanistan. This tendency is becoming increasingly manifest on the border with Iran as well, to the dismay and annoyance of Iranians. 

Four months ago, during October to be precise, Ashrafabad, Anvarabad and Pir Kur border station witnessed firing by Pakistan.  Iranian Border Guards registered their protest and sought to discuss the issue with their Pakistan counterparts as laid down in the border protocol.  Pakistanis simply ignored the request.

The last month of the year gone-by witnessed another border violation. Several bullets were fired from Pakistani soil towards Negur and Jakigur.  Promptly Iranian Border Guards lodged a protest with their Pak counterparts at Torbat and requested a meeting. Till the time of writing this commentary, Pak representatives failed to attend the meeting.   

It is not that Iranian authorities did not stoop on occasions to needle their Pakistani friends. On 06 September (2020), for instance, Pakistan embassy in Tehran arranged a big show to show case its 55^th Defence Day Programme. Who is who of Iranian capital were invited. As the guests arrived, the caterer did a vanishing trick. Because he and his team were nabbed by the local authorities.   The reason for the arrest is a mystery wrapped in a riddle. Well, Pakistani officials are still covering their embarrassment sporting a sheepish smile.

Undeniably, bonhomie between Iran-Pakistan is a headline that remains a hostage to the deep divide that exists as an undercurrent in the relations between two Muslim neighbors.  

—-By Malladi Rama Rao, Poreg