1000 peaceful protesters were shot by Nigerian army on Saturday
Prominent Shia personalities in the city have said that they would organise a protest march to the Nigerian embassy in the city to protest against the indiscriminate killing of more than 1,000 Shia men and women by the Nigerian army in Zaria and Kano last Saturday.
The community has said that while the Paris terrorist attack had got the entire world condemning the incident, no one was raising their voice against the Nigerian army pogrom and hence the Shias from the city were going to take up the issue with the Indian and Nigerian government authorities. The protest in Mumbai will be the second in the country following a major protest by Shias that was held in Chennai on Wednesday.
Speaking about the indiscriminate shooting on whimsical grounds by the Nigerian army on a large gathering of Shias who were holding a peaceful demonstration in Zaria Adv Dr Shabeeb Rizvi said that it was a shameful act perpetrated by the Nigerian chief of army staff, Gen Tukur Buratai at the behest of his bosses in Saudi Arabia. “The takfiris and salafis are targeting Shias because of their failure to spread terror in Syria and Iraq. The Nigerian government should wake up to the fact that their country would be left devastated if they allow such acts to continue,” said Dr Rizvi adding that a protest march would be held on Monday to the Nigerian embassy and a letter of protest will be handed to the authorities there.
The shooting occurred last Saturday after hundreds of members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), on a major road near Zaria, blocked the motorcade of Gen Buratai. The army opened fire on the demonstrators that left hundreds dead. More people were shot dead after the army stormed the compound of the IMN leader, Ibraheem Zakzaky. However, with very little being said on the same in the international arena, Shias across the world have decided to protest against the same by making representations to their governments.
Ali Shroff, vice president of the Khoja Shia Ithna Ashari Jamat said, “We are shocked and astonished at the genocide carried out not by ISIS or Boko Haram but the Nigerian Army. We wonder when the media will cover this to let the world know how Shia Muslims are suffering at the hands of these pseudo terrorists.” He further added, “We recommend UN to intervene in this matter and a thorough inquiry should be carried out in the killing of innocent and armless civilians,” said Mr Shroff.
The vice-president of the BJP’s Maal Vahtuk Sena Afzal Dawoodani, who is also a Shia, said that he would use his office to get the party to condemn the killing of civilians by the Nigerian army. “The world was shocked and angered by the killing of innocent people in Paris recently, but there is not a single word of criticism against the heinous act of the Nigerian army. It seems that the humanity quotient of the world is based on the colour of the skin and hence they are quite in the face the massacre of Nigerian civilians. I will be meeting chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and request him to write to the Nigerian government condemning the act,” said Mr Dawoodani.
Shia youngsters in the city are also livid at the silence of the world and have decided to protest by holding placards condemning the shooting incident. Asad Mirza, one of the initiators of the protest, said that more than 200 youngsters would be standing with placards at railway stations to draw the attention of the people to the atrocities suffered by the civilians in Nigeria.
“According to some friends in Nigeria, rather than apologising for the incident, the government is trying to silence protests by vicitimising protestors in Zaria and Kano. The friends are also informing that the government is trying to cover up the number of fatalities by burying the victims in mass graves. The UN needs to step in and stop such an inhuman approach by the Nigerian government,” said Mr Mirza.
