House & family listing : Victim was helping census team after violence in other areas

2 party workers with victim escaped, 2 other men mistaken and shot instead.

KARACHI:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist who was killed on Tuesday was not a member of the census team in Mehmoodabad but was “voluntarily assisting” them as there had been trouble in other areas, according to DDO Revenue Wasimuddin.

Asif Ali was shot dead and two men near him were mistaken by the six attackers as MQM activists and were also shot dead. Victims Munir and Naeem were in fact only party sympathisers, their families said. They were outside over the broken sewage line.

Two lucky party activists — who declined to give their names after the killing — had been with Asif but had moved on to another street. They escaped the attack. One of these two men told The Express Tribune that he and the other activist ran away as they believed that if they stayed there, they would have been targeted. “We are ashamed as we should have chased the culprits but we were helpless as we were empty-handed,” he said.

There was apparently “an ongoing rift” regarding the census work in Mehmoodabad, as “other dwellers” had some reservations, Jamshed TPO Amir Farooqui said while talking to The Express Tribune. One of the issues was that the house-count was not being done properly. “This is what the residents told us,” Farooqui added.

According to DDO Wasimuddin, the census team had sought the help of local representatives after the residents of Patel Para had become violent or simply refused to divulge any information about themselves. The residents started demanding to know why the census was taking place and why they needed so much information. “It came to a point that it started affecting our work, so we asked the local people to just be with us while we worked,” said Wasimuddin, adding that Asif Ali was not “on duty” but was there to “meet someone”.

For their part, Wasay Jalil, who is the central information secretary of the MQM, told The Express Tribune that party workers were looking for clues in the case. Facts are being “twisted” and given “an angle” only because the MQM is involved, Jalil said.

“Unfortunately, three of our most active members were gathered at the same place, which made them vulnerable to an attack,” he said, adding that it has happened in the past as well.

Giving an example of the census held in 1988, he said that most of the details were “distorted”. As one of the stakeholders, Jalil said, it was the responsibility of the party to ensure that “the census is based on merit.”

Meanwhile, the families have said they want compensation. “Can you imagine how hard it is for an aged man to lift the body of his own young son,” said victim Asif’s elderly father Mohammad Hafeez.

“Can you do anything for my brother’s daughters and a widow,” Asif’s younger sister, Farah, asked. “Can you speak the government and Altaf Hussain to compensate them?”

She said, “My brother was doing government work by collecting data for the census when he was killed. They should bear the expenses of his children’s education and also provide work for his widow.”

His bitter father said that the culprits would be freed so there was no point in arresting them.

On the other hand, the families of the remaining two victims, Munir, a retired government employee and a father of four, and Naeem said that these men were not party activists but as Urdu-speaking people, were party supporters.

“There was a leak in the sewerage line near my house,” said Munir’s son Wajahat. “After the authorities didn’t do anything, my father hired Naeem to do the repairs.” His father was assisting Naeem, who was a plumber with the water board. The police have registered FIR No. 161/11 under Section 302/34 on the complaint of Munir’s son Wajahat.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th,  2011.