October 15, 2024
By Shaukat Korai
LAHORE
In the aftermath of the police crackdown on the Sindh Rawadari March, civil society have vowed not to back down in the face of religious extremism and say they will continue their protest and resistance.
“This government is a prisoner of the establishment,” said journalist and academic Dr Tauseef Ahmed, while speaking to Voicepk. “Religious extremists are the assets of our establishment, so whenever there is public movement against these elements, we can see all kinds of steps being taken in order to crush that protest. The protest was meant to focus on the murder of Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar in Umerkot.”
Dr Tauseef said that there should immediate and transparent investigation by the Sindh government into the matter.
“The government of Sindh has already admitted that this (Dr Shahnawaz) was an extrajudicial killing,” he said.
“Constitution Articles 16, 17 and 18 give the public the right to protest; they should not have trampled these. On the other side the establishment had readied another group to challenge this protest,” he said referring to the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) who had begun to gather nearby.
However Deputy Commissioner of Karachi South, Altaf Sario, who had been present outside the KPC during the crackdown, explained that the rally was being held in violation of Section 144.
“Two different groups had given a call for a protest march on the same date and time,” he said. “Section 144 was imposed as a preemptive measure.”
Baloch rights activist and leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), Dr. Mahrang Baloch, commented that putting a stop to the peaceful Rawadari March had been nothing short of ‘fascism’.
“It is not as if criminal elements are restricted only to Balochistan,” she said. “In fact they have spread everywhere in other provinces as well. If the march had been allowed to continue peacefully, it would have ended in an hour or so.”
Mahrang also referred to her own maltreatment by the Sindh Police outside the Karachi airport on October 7.
Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Asad Iqbal Butt condemned the brutality, and maintained that the police were given free rein to do as they pleased and spread anarchy.
“It has always been the State’s policy that those who want to say anything peacefully, are crushed,” said Butt. “But those elements that threaten to behead people and offer reward money in exchange, and spread terrorism, are allowed to go on with impunity. Citizens who want to follow the law of the land, are a thorn in the side of the State as it doesn’t want to follow laws itself.”
Activists say they will not allow the province to become another hotbed for religious extremism, violence and intolerance. They expressed their dismay.
“We thought we would all come together and discuss the situation of Dr Shahnawaz’s murder,” said activist Raheela Joyo. “When I also reached I saw that they (police) were getting ready to arrest me as well but then I dodged them by slipping inside the press club. They are refusing to let us talk. Why? Why are our voices being trampled?”
BACKGROUND
The Sindh Rawadari Committee, a platform of progressive civil society organizations, had announced their call for a demonstration on Sunday October 13 which was held outside the Karachi Press Club. The protest would bring to attention the rise of religious extremism across Sindh, especially the case of Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar’s killing by a police officer, for alleged blasphemy. The officer was also celebrated by extremist elements after he had murdered the doctor. Afterwards when the body was being taken for burial, once again hardliners snatched the body and set it on fire.
The march also came on the heels of a fact-finding report by the Sindh Human Right Commission (SHRC), which found glaring violations in the legal process, denial of fundamental rights, severe police misconduct, and gross negligence by the authorities.
The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) also organized a counter-rally from Karachi’s Teen Talwar to KPC to protest what it termed was an attempt by Sindh’s progressives to undermine Pakistan’s stringent blasphemy laws and to exonerate Dr. Kunbhar, who stood accused of committing blasphemy.
Sunday’s protest came to an abrupt halt after it was violently broken up by Karachi Police.
The Sindh Government on Saturday, October 12, imposed section 144 across Karachi for five days, starting from October 13. Both groups however announced that they will move forward with their demonstration in defiance of the order. On the day of, a heavy contingent of law enforcement personnel was deployed at Teen Talwar and the KPC, while all roads leading to the Press Club were blocked by containers and vehicles. Arrests were carried out in the morning as protestors gathered at their respective locations.
Clashes between the TLP and Karachi Police at Teen Talwar left several injured, with one reported dead. Baton-wielding personnel also charged at the Sindh Rawadari March, apprehending at least 35 participants including several prominent human rights defenders, thinkers and youth activists. Videos also emerged on social media where male police officer were seen manhandling women marchers.
Sindhoo Nawaz Ghanghro, who was among the organizers of the March, and known intellectual Jami Chandio and his daughter Romasa were among those protestors who were dragged and tossed into police vans.
Chandio, who was able to evade arrest after intervention by other participants, said that under the patronage of the Sindh Government, the police behaved like terrorists against peaceniks.
“It does not matter if they beat me up,” said Chandio while speaking to Voicepk. “They have beaten everyone – all the peaceful demonstrators, the women, everyone. This is state terrorism.”
Convenor for the Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh, Panhal Sario, alleged that law enforcement had begun civil society activists who were planning on participating in the March since Friday, October 11.
“Yesterday Dr Niaz Kalani was arrested from Hyderabad yesterday,” said Sario. “They arrested Riaz Chandio too.
There were raids at my house and at the homes of Sindhu Nawaz Ghangro, Hamza Chandio, and others. All this was done by the Sindh government. The police brutally beat up artists and intellectuals including Bachal Thalo, Sindhu Nawaz Ghangro, Jami Chandio, Romasa Chandio, Saif Samejo…they were beaten up with batons. There were male police officers arresting women – how was this even possible? How was this justified? They have acted in excess and with sons and daughters of the soil.”
Sario specified that the first injustice was done with Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar. “The people of Sindh must resist and protest against this as much as they can,” he said.