Sectarian scourge: Hundreds protest assassination in Karachi

Several protest demonstrations held across the city.

LAHORE: Hundreds of Lahoris staged protest demonstrations on Sunday against the killing of Ali Akbar Kumaili.

Protests demonstrations were held in Johar Town, at Majlis-i-Wahadat-ul-Muslimeen headquarters and Islampura. Protestors chanted slogans against sectarianism and held placards promoting interfaith harmony.

Hundreds of Pakistan Jafria Alliance activists also staged a protest demonstration in front of the press club against the killing . They raised slogans against a banned outfit and praised Kumaili.

Allama Abbas Kumaili, the father of the deceased, is the founder of the Pakistan Jafria Alliance and a former senator.  Politically, he has been affiliated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.  Kumaili and his guard were killed on Saturday by unknown assailants in Azizabad.

Provincial Assembly Member (MPA) Hina Butt condemned the assassination. She said those behind the murder were conspiring to divide Pakistan along sectarian lines. Butt said the government should leave no stone unturned to nab them. She said Islam prized peace over everything else.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, MPA Nausheen Hamid condemned the assassination.  She said the government should leave no stone unturned to arrest the culprits.  Hamid said certain forces with vested interest wanted to spread sectarian strife in Pakistan.

Pakistan Peoples Party Media Coordinator Ahsan Abbas Rizvi expressed anguish over the assassination. He said the recent spate in sectarian killings had perturbed him. Rizvi said it was disturbing to note that innocent people were being killed in Pakistan for their religious confession. He said some religious extremists had been targeting minorities to weaken the country. Rizvi said the government and the armed forces should strive to annihilate the perpetrators of sectarian violence.  He said that the goal of a peaceful Pakistan would always remain unrealised until banned outfits were exterminated.

Saeeda Diep of Institute of Peace and Secular Studies said the government should stop patronising sectarian outfits to strengthen the writ of the state. She said such groups were dependent of the government’s largesse as their support base was too insignificant to sustain them. Diep said that such outfits had always been backed by forces with hidden agendas.

Ali Imran, a human rights activist, condemned the assassination. He said it should be seen as the latest example of a “Shia genocide underway in Pakistan.”  Imran said the state had failed to protect the lives and dignity of its citizens. He said the state had turned a blind eye towards the activities of banned outfits. Imran said sightings of anti-Shia graffiti were common in Karachi. He said no one accused of fanning sectarian tensions had been convicted in last 15 years. Imran said this had set a bad precedent and urged the government to apprehend the culprits.

Anum Zaidi, one of the protesters, said such incidents could not shake their faith.  She urged the government to take action against the culprits.

Yasir Hashmi, another protester, said sectarian tensions had taken a toll on Pakistan and jeopardised Pakistan’s international standing.  He said Muslims should rally around the banner of Islam and disregard sectarian differences.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2014.