'Go to Iran': The 3-word ultimatum from General Asim Munir that is tearing Pakistan apart

With sectarian temperatures rising and protests showing no sign of stopping, Pakistan's Eid this year arrived under a shadow that no Iftar dinner can paper over.

Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir issued a stunning ultimatum to the country's top Shia Muslim clerics at an Iftar gathering and the fallout is threatening to tear the nation apart along sectarian lines.

Munir, who runs Pakistan as its de facto ruler, invited senior Shia religious leaders under the guise of an Iftar dinner during Ramadan. The clerics arrived believing they were being honoured. What they got instead was a threat that has since sent shockwaves across Pakistan's 40-million-strong Shia community.

"If You Love Iran So Much, Go There"

Speaking while in civilian clothes rather than his military uniform, Munir told the assembled Shia scholars bluntly: "If you love Iran so much, go there. We will not allow anyone to create chaos in Pakistan out of loyalty to another country."

The clerics were not given a chance to respond. In Munir's Pakistan, his word is final and being silenced in that room has itself become a point of outrage. Those same clerics are now travelling across Pakistan recounting the humiliation in detail, inflaming Shia sentiment from Karachi to Lahore.

Why Munir made this move

The trigger was the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, which sparked massive protests across Pakistan. In Karachi, angry Shia demonstrators stormed the US Consulate, vandalised the premises, and in the violent crackdown that followed, more than eight Shia Muslims were killed by American security personnel.

The optics were catastrophic for Munir, who analysts say is desperate to stay in Donald Trump's good books. With Shia protests damaging his image in Washington, Munir moved to contain the community first with the Iftar invite, then the ultimatum.

The bitter irony Pakistan can't ignore

Here lies the deepest wound: Shia Muslims were central to founding Pakistan. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam and national father, was himself a Shia Muslim. So was Aga Khan III, the first president of the All India Muslim League and the movement's chief financier. Shia scholar and politician Syed Ameer Ali was among the loudest voices demanding a separate Muslim homeland.

Now, the community that helped build Pakistan is being told it doesn't belong there.

Shia pushback: "Munir should go to America"

The Shia community has not backed down. Clerics and community leaders are now publicly telling Munir that if anyone should leave, it is he, to America, or to Israel, they say. Sunni extremist groups have targeted Pakistan's Shia population for decades. What the community fears now is far worse: a Pakistani Army, under Munir's orders, joining that campaign.

With sectarian temperatures rising and protests showing no sign of stopping, Pakistan's Eid this year arrived under a shadow that no Iftar dinner can paper over.