The Sunni and Shia divisions are acutely increasing in Pakistan; this should be approached with care. This narrative is built upon exaggeration, bias in presentation in most cases, and in some instances, proactive propaganda. Pakistan is not a society that the sectarian labels prevail, and life of the population is marked by the competition of the schools of thought. It is grounded on a Muslim identity, a comparable national narrative and a long history of co-existence despite theological pluralism. This does not mean that there are no tensions as there is no friction-free society. Nevertheless, it also implies that making broad statements about a growing Sunni Shia split is not always accurate in its perception of the social fact of the country and exaggerates cases to form a non-existent picture of national disintegration.

What is more evident is that the more Maslak’s have co-existed in Pakistan and lived with each other over the generations with the familiarity, the respect and the common ordinary human contact. Towns, city and village families trade with one another, co-educate, co-work, share same institutions, same civic space. Pakistanis are prone to meet either as neighbours, colleagues, classmates or nation members, but not to face each other as the representatives of the opposing sects. The normal tradition of co-existence is much more powerful than the trumpets clamouring, which strive to transform every........

© Eurasia Review