1988 Gilgit Massacre

In 1988 a revolt by the Shias of Gilgit (in northern Pakistan) was ruthlessly suppressed by the Zia-ul Haq regime. The Pakistan Army lead an armed group of Sunni tribals, from Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier Province, into Gilgit and its surrounding areas to suppress the revolt.

Shias allege discrimination by the Pakistani government since 1948, claiming that Sunnis are given preference in business, official positions and administration of justice. On 5 July 1977, General Zia-ul-Haq led a coup d'etat.Zia-ul-Haq committed himself to establishing an Islamic state and enforcing sharia law. Zia's state sponsored Islamization increased sectarian divisions in Pakistan between Sunnis and Shias and between Deobandis and Barelvis. The Pakistani government leaned in favour of applying Sunni law to all. Attacks on Shias increased under the presidency of Zia-ul-Haq. Pakistan`s first major Shia-Sunni riots erupted in 1983 in Karachi during the Shia holiday of Muharram, leaving at least 60 people dead. Further Muharram disturbances followed during another three years, expanding to Lahore and the Baluchistan region and left more hundreds dead. In July 1986, Sunnis and Shias, a number of them equipped with locally made automatic weapons, clashed in the northwestern settlement of Parachinar, where an estimated of at least 200 died.