Pesh Imam gunned down in North Karachi

KARACHI: Forty-year-old Hafiz Adnan Sheikh Qadri, son of Mosa Sheikh, was shot dead early Saturday by two armed men on a motorcycle near Sector 11-G, Godhra Camp. He is said to have had an affiliation with Dawat-e-Islami, Sunni Ittehad Council and Sunni Tehreek. Sheikh was the Pesh Imam of the Rabbani Mosque near his residence.

Tension prevailed in New Karachi and its surrounding areas during the victim’s funeral prayers offered at the Godhra Camp Road after Zuhr prayers. Scores of people including leaders and workers of religious organisations participated in the funeral prayers. The routes leading to Godhra Camp were blocked and a heavy contingent of law enforcers was deployed.

During the protest, unidentified people also resorted to aerial firing that fuelled the panic, forcing all businesses to shut down. Tyres were burnt and people remained confined to their homes. According to officials, law enforcers had detained some suspects for disturbing law and order. The police, however, rejected such claims.

The protesters blamed a rival group for the killing. Religious-party leaders including Shahid Ghouri, Tariq Mehboob and Qazi Ahmed Noorani also addressed the participants of the funeral prayers and they demanded the government launch an operation against the banned religious outfit allegedly responsible. The leaders said that everyone knows that the outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan is now working under a new name Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat. “Why is the government not taking [any] action against them,” they asked. “Sipah-e-Sahaba is responsible for killing people belonging to the Barelvi school of thought.” Sunni Ittehad Council spokesman Qari Saleem said the Sindh government had already been informed about threats from the Sipah-e-Sahaba in a meeting before the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal. “We have informed the police time and again and have asked them to take action against their men in the locality. But they never do.”

On the other hand, Alhe Sunnat wal Jamaat spokesman Taj Hanfi said that all the allegations against the organisation are baseless and they have never been involved in any criminal activity. “Some elements are hatching conspiracies against us.”

At least three people have been killed while several others injured in sectarian violence across the city in the last couple of months.

New Karachi Industrial Area SHO Amir Khan said the police have taken steps to counter violence in the area. “We are collecting data of the suspects involved and they will be arrested,” the officer assured.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2011.