Unfulfilled promises: Shikarpur families warn of another long march

Shuhda committee says dozens of injured victims still struggling for treatment.

KARACHI: The families of the victims of the Shikarpur imambargah bombing have complained that the government has yet to fulfil the promises it made four months ago.

Families of four victims have yet to receive compensation while dozens of injured men and women are struggling to pay for their treatment. These complaints were shared by the Shikarpur Shuhda Committee chairperson Maqsood Domki at a press conference at Karachi Press Club on Thursday evening.

If the government continues to ignore their plight, the chairperson warned of holding another long march all the way from Shikarpur to Karachi after Eid. "We are really upset to say that the government has been very lazy in acting on their promises," said Domki, adding that the families will not be in a position to allow the government more time after Eid.

"We will carry out another long march like we did before," he warned. "We are announcing it here so that the government does not say that we did not give them time to act on their promises."

According to Domki, the committee that was formed to help the victims of Shikarpur blast has only met once. There has also been no implementation of the 22-point agreement signed between the government and the victims of Shikarpur after the long march, he added.

Domki went on to call Shikarpur the centre of terrorism and held the local police responsible for that. "We have given the administration the names of the madrassas where terrorists are trained but no action has been taken against them," he said.

Qamaruddin Shaikh, who lost four of his nephews in the blast, demanded action against terrorists in Sindh. Another victim Basharat Ali Shah, who lost his father in the blast, complained that his family has yet to receive compensation. "We were promised that the heirs of the martyrs will be given jobs but nobody ever contacted us," he said.

Domki added that the Rs1-million compensation for the victims' families announced by a real estate tycoon has also yet to be paid.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2015.