The stone ages

In his latest statement, Burney has admitted to the crime but tried to defend himself


Kamal Siddiqi December 11, 2017
The writer, a former editor of The Express Tribune, is director of the Centre for Excellence in Journalism at IBA, Karachi. He tweets @tribunian

How many more of Karachi’s young men will die before the government tries to put some control on the massive ownership of guns in the city?

Eighteen-year-old Zafir Fahim Zuberi was shot dead earlier this month after he and his friends tried to escape from a crime scene near Devil’s Point, the infamous stretch of road where the rich and not so rich boys of Karachi come to race their cars and motorbikes usually on Sundays or on public holidays. In this particular incident, Zafir was driving a luxury car and had ended up hitting a motorcyclist and then tried to escape the scene.

The motorcyclist was Dr Rahim, who himself had come to Devil’s Point possibly to try out his riding skills. His motorcycle was accompanied by his SUV, a Toyota Vigo, which also had his guard in it. But it was not the Vigo nor Dr Rahim’s guard who shot at Zafir and his friends.

The murder was committed by Khawar Burney, the prime suspect, who has since then ended up in police custody. Zafir and his friends were apparently trying to flee after hitting and injuring Dr Rahim. Burney and a group of others chased Zafir’s vehicle and opened fire, killing Zafir and injuring his friend Zaid. The other two passengers were unhurt. In this incident there is no right or wrong, only a dead 18-year-old. One wonders what prompted Burney, the son of a respected member of the business community, to try and kill someone for the sheer pleasure of doing so.

In his latest statement, Burney has admitted to the crime but tried to defend himself. He accepts he opened fire but had no intention to kill anyone. He just wanted to stop their car by bursting its tyres. In the meantime, news reports said that Burney was given VIP treatment at the local police station after his arrest. If traditions are to be followed, very soon Burney will be out on bail.

Zafir’s friends, who were with him at the time of incident, claimed that the accused did not attempt to stop the car. All he did was to shoot indiscriminately.

Of course the police have to figure out what happened first: whether the boys in the car were escaping and then fired upon or were fired upon and then sped away.

For their part, the suspects managed to escape from the scene after killing Zafir. In a rare show of efficiency, the police arrested them the same evening during a raid on their residence on Allama Iqbal Road. A case has been registered against Burney for Zafir’s death and Zaid’s injury.

Zafir’s father said that he will not forgive the murderers. He told the media that the case did not concern just his son but the lives of all youth who could become victims of influential persons who thought they were above the law. He is right. But how deep are his pockets to fight for justice.

To complicate things further, motorcyclist Dr Rahim denied association with the accused. He told the police that he knew neither the victims nor the suspects.

Police officials believe, however, that Dr Rahim is acquainted with the suspects.

Some family members of the deceased appeared unsatisfied with the police for not adding sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act in the FIR. This attitude suggests that the police have started to play games in order to save whichever party pays it the most money.

Despite claims by the government that the law and order situation in Karachi has improved, the city’s young and powerful continue to play with their fancy cars and their sophisticated guns. There is no stopping them.

We do not punish our murderers. Shahrukh Jatoi has been given a new lease of life thanks to a highly-paid lawyer. In 2012, Jatoi killed another youngster, Shahzeb Khan, over a minor dispute. Despite the passage of several years, Jatoi has yet to face justice appropriate to the crime.

In between Zafir and Shahzeb, a number of young men have died because of Karachi’s notorious VIP culture where big cars, guards and guns are used to settle scores on issues as minor as one party thinking they have been slighted by some gesture of another. When will Karachi emerge from the stone ages, one wonders.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2017.

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COMMENTS (2)

Malik Tariq | 6 years ago | Reply The ease with which murderers of Shahzeb in Karachi at the hands of Shahrukh Jatoi have managed to manipulate judicial process through friendly prosecution and the way Shahrukh and his accomplices were facilitated by Sind government to flee the country has only served to encourage trigger happy spoilt sons of the dirty rich to go on killing sprees, murdering innocent citizens. This latest killer Khawar Burney will get away like others such as the Kanju boy who murdered an orphan Hamza in Lahore Cantonment and managed to get away in spite of several checkposts located within few yards of the incident. With police, city administration and provincial government visibly protecting such murderers you cannot expect ordinary citizens to come forward as witnesses. It is indeed shameful and vary sad to see the state standby while these brutal brats go around with weapons shooting and killing on slightest pretext.
naeem sadiq | 6 years ago | Reply Pakistan will remain in stone ages as long as it does not begin to adopt the behaviours of a modern state. Deweaponisation is the first step if Pakistan wishes to move forward. Thanks for highlighting this aspect.
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