This should not happen in a civilised society: protesters

Also demand justice for Karachi ‘staged encounter’ victim Naqeebullah

QUETTA: Civil society, student organisations and political parties held protests against the killings of polio workers in Quetta and Naqeebullah Mehsud in Karachi at the local press club on Sunday.

The protesters carrying placards and banners condemned both the incidents and demanded the arrest of the killers. Civil society’s representatives Behram Baloch, Asmat Jo Gazai and Jahangir Bazai, Insaf Student Organisation’s Provincial President Syed Sanaullah Agha, Hikmat Khan Tokhai, Hakim Achakzai, Nasrullah Kakar and Niaz Mullah Khel, PSP’s Shaista Gul Kasi, Ali Khan Sulemain Khel and Asghar Khilji, and Balochistan action committee’s Malik Naseer Muhammad Shahee and others condemned the incident.

They were of the view that the polio team was involved in ensuring that the coming generation does not face any disability and attacking it was something that could not be imagined in a civilised society.

Condemning the extrajudicial murder of Naqeebullah, the leaders said that a youngster lost his life in a fake police encounter. They said that Naqeebullah was a patriotic person who wanted his son to join the army. According to the leaders, Naqeebullah had come to Karachi to earn a living. They claimed that he was murdered in a fake encounter and his innocence had been proven in the investigation.

The leaders demanded that Malir Senior Superintendent of Police Rao Anwar must face the strictest punishment and not just suspension. They vowed that protests would not end with the suspension of the police officer but would continue till the family of Naqeebullah receives justice. They appealed to the people of all schools of thought to raise their voice in this regard so that no innocent person meets the same fate as Naqeebullah did.

Separately, Balochistan Secretary Health Javed Anwar Shahwani offered condolences to the family of the slain polio workers and assured the heirs that the killers would be arrested soon. “We have deep sympathies with the family of the slain female polio workers. We pray that the departed souls rest in peace,” Shahwani said while offering condolence to the family in Hazar Ganji area. “All resources are being utilised to arrest the perpetrators who carried out the barbaric act. Soon the culprits will be behind the bars,” he added.

The Quetta police have announced Rs5 million prize for the person who would identify the killers of the polio workers.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2018.