• 1972, July, language riots:
Large-scale language-related riots in Karachi and Hyderabad over the passage of the Sindh (Teaching, Promotion, and Use of Sindhi Language) Bill of 1972, claimed several lives.
• 1974, May-October, anti Ahmedi riots:
Ahmadis were boycotted and massacarred until Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, under pressure from the Islamist parties, declared them non-Muslim.
• 1977, March-July, anti Bhutto unrest:
After their defeat, the nine-party Pakistan National Alliance accused the Bhutto government of rigging the March 1977 general elections. Violence followed after calls for the overthrow of Bhutto’s regime by hard-line Islamist leaders and curfew was clamped in major cities.
• 1983, MRD movement:
When Ziaul Haq cracked down on the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, a coalition of 11 political parties that took a stand against his dictatorial regime, between 60 and 200 people were killed in the clashes and up to 15,000 were arrested.
• 1985, April, Bushra Zaidi:
A college girl’s death in a road accident led to one of the bloodiest ethnic riots in Karachi. Buses and other vehicles were burnt by angry crowds in the streets. The following day, Pashun transporters retaliated by burning houses and police vehicles. According to the official estimates, the death toll approximated 50 whereas by unofficial estimates it was closer to 100.
• 1986, December, Qasba Colony:
When the army cracked down on Sohrab Goth, known as a drugs and arms market, several hundred Pashuns armed with Kalashnikovs attacked the Muhajir residential areas of Qasba, Aligarh and Sector I-D in retaliation, killing hundreds and burning several businesses and homes.
The day after, violence spread all over Karachi. Mobs of men armed with rifles charged into houses of other communities and left only when everything was destroyed. In counter-attacks, armed marauders on bikes and in cars resorted to random killing on the roads, machine-gunning, burning and looting. Over five days, at least 200 people were killed in the riots.
• 1988, September, Hyderabad massacare:
A dozen gunmen on motorbikes and in cars, said to be Sindhi militants, fired indiscriminately at people in the streets killing approximately 250 people in Hyderabad. The next day, when the news reached Karachi, crowds of Muhajirs went into the streets and retaliated by burning cars and houses, looting shops and killing people, increasing the death toll by 60-65 deaths.
• 1990, May, Pacca Qila:
The police opened fire at the procession of Muhajirs fronted by women and children, demonstrating against the violence that erupted in Pacca Qila, Hyderabad, in which a dozen civilians were killed; the firing resulted in the death of more than 45 with 250 wounded.
The next day, retaliation in Karachi killed at least 130 people over a five-day period. Finally the army had to be called in to restore law and order.
• 1992, July, Shia-Sunni riots:
These three-day riots in the NWFP, mainly in Peshawar, caused the death of seven Sunnis and three Shias; a total of 49 people were injured.
• 1992, Babri Masjid aftermath:
The backlash to the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on Dec 6, 1992, led to bloody riots all across Pakistan where 30 temples were destroyed and churches were also attacked.
• 1997, August, sectarian violence:
More than 100 people, mostly Shias, died in riots throughout Punjab in an unprecedented wave of sectarian strife.
• 2007, December, Benazir’s assasination:
Over 100 people died in the violence following the assasination as protesters took to the streets. Rioters destroyed 176 banks, 34 gasoline stations and hundreds of cars and shops.
• 2009, December, Karachi Ashura attack:
More than 30 people died in the bomb blast that ripped through the main Ashura procession in Karachi and dozens were injured. Following the blast, shops in the vicinity were set on fire. The loss is estimated to exceeded 4,000 shops and 40,000 affected families.
• 2012, summer, power riots:
Prolonged loadshedding and power cuts led to a series of riots in various cities in Punjab, especially Lahore and Faisalabad, during the year. In some places, the power supply offices and police stations were attacked. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Karachi also witnessed protests.