October 22, 2024
Staff Report
LAHORE:
The Sindh Rawadari March Action Committee has issued a stern ultimatum to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), demanding the unseating of MNA Ameer Ali Shah, who controversially garlanded the policemen involved in the custodial death of Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar in Umerkot. The committee declared that if their demands were not met, a follow-up march would take place, this time in Hyderabad on November 23.
During a media briefing at the Hyderabad Press Club, prominent figures from the committee, including Sindhu Nawaz Ghangro, Alia Bukhshal, and Nasir Mansoor, outlined the events of the Rawadari March held on October 13. They hailed civil society members for their unwavering support during the protests.
The committee voiced strong criticism of the Sindh government’s ‘double standards’, highlighting that while the government sought an apology for police actions against peaceful protesters, it simultaneously took punitive measures against activists involved in the march.
They reported that participants have faced intimidation but affirmed their commitment to continue their struggle for justice.
“The events surrounding Dr. Shahnawaz’s death represent the collective voice of a ‘Rawadar’ Sindh,” they stated, noting that their pressure led to the government conceding some of their demands, including a judicial inquiry rather than a police investigation.
The committee also condemned the initial post-mortem report, labeling it false and indicative of a cover-up to protect the perpetrators. They called for the judicial probe’s findings to be made public and demanded accountability for those who authored the misleading post-mortem report and those who incited the murder.
Criticizing elected representatives in Umerkot as facilitators of the police and their extremist acts, the committee demanded an end to fake police encounters, which they argued have been conducted under the guise of politics, religion, and law enforcement.
BACKGROUND
Dozens of people were arrested by the police on Sunday, from outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC), after a protest organized by the Sindh Rawadari Committee (SRC) was held in spite of police claiming that Section 144 had been imposed.
The protest brought to attention the rise of religious extremism across Sindh, especially in the case of Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar who was killed 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.