Christian MPA shot dead by guard in Balochistan

QUETTA/ ISLAMABAD:

Handery Masieh, a Christian MPA belonging to the National Party (NP) ruling Balochistan, was gunned down by his own guard on Saturday.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Quetta Saddar Assistant Commissioner Nisar Chalgari said that Masieh was shot dead by one of his personal guards, who had been with him for nearly 15 years. The guard was identified as Agha Abul Hayee who hailed from Mastung.

“The MPA was hit by two bullets in the neck and taken to Civil Hospital, Quetta, where he succumbed to his injuries,” Chalgari said, adding that Masieh’s nephew was also critically injured in the attack.

Masieh also belonged to district Mastung, remained an active member of Baloch Students Organisation (BSO) and was elected, unopposed, on a minorities’ seat.

The reason behind the guard shooting him has not been ascertained yet, however, officials claim that Masieh had sacked him three days ago and had rehired him Saturday morning.

Initial reports suggest that a personal feud led to the killing, the police told the media. “The guard had been working with Handery Masieh for 10 to 15 years,” said Chalgari.

The home secretary of Balochistan, Akbar Hussain Durrani, said that a bitter exchange of words between the MPA’s nephew and the security guard resulted in the murder. Masieh was trying to reconcile the dispute between the two when the matter went out of control, which prompted the guard to shoot.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested the father and brothers of the accused security guard who disappeared after committing the offence. “He abandoned his official gun and ran away,” the home secretary said.

The killer was one of the four security guards that were provided to the MPA by the provincial government. Durrani ruled out the possibility of any militant organisation’s involvement in the killing.

Separately, both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain have strongly condemned the murder. In their condolence messages, they expressed grief and sorrow over the incident and sympathised with the bereaved family.

The prime minister directed the Frontier Corps IG to help the Balochistan government arrest the guard and take immediate action.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik also condemned the gunning down of Masieh, saying the incident has deprived the province of an honest leader.

Silence observed

Moments after the MPA was shot dead, the mood in the National Assembly turned sombre. Lawmakers unanimously condemned the incident and observed a two-minute silence.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s Asiya Nasir had just finished her speech questioning the constitutional bar on minorities from becoming prime minister or president and the rise in violence against minorities when the house was told about the incident.

“Article 25 of the Constitution says all men and women are equal but at the same time non-Muslims cannot hold the office of the prime minister as well as that of the president […] this is not acceptable to us,” she remarked.

Addressing the National Assembly during the budget debate, Nasir said the budget was similar to the previous ones and did not have anything meaningful for minorities. “Discrimination against minorities has no end and incidents of violence are on the rise. We have drifted away from Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Pakistan.”

The JUI-F MNA also pointed out that the 18th Constitutional Amendment had devolved their ministry to a provincial level due to which there was no uniform policy; all four provinces have different policies regarding minorities.  She suggested that the government should have a ministry for the minorities at the Centre.

She also referred to another constitutional provision, Article 22, saying that non-Muslim students were being taught subjects against their will and the school curriculum contained hate material against minorities.

Commenting on laws related to blasphemy, Nasir stated, “Christians are being targeted. Number of blasphemy cases against Christians are increasing day by day but not a single person, who had misused the laws [against minorities], had ever been punished.”

Separately, in Quetta, members of the Balochistan Assembly also observed two minutes of silence for slain MPA Handery Masieh.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2014.