Attack on writer: Sindh literary club to pursue case with police

Shoukat Khwajai, historian and caretaker of 'House of the Seven Sisters', was injured in an acid attack on May 10.

HYDERABAD: Dissatisfied by the police’s investigation into the acid attack on writer and historian Shoukat Khawajai, the Sindhi Adabi Sangat has volunteered to pursue the case with the Sukkur police.

The club of Sindhi writers and poets has formed a committee of Prof Manzoor Ujjar, Bashir Mangi and Mustafa Kandhro. Shoukat Khwajai, historian and caretaker of Satiyan Jo Asthano (House of the Seven Sisters), was injured in an acid attack on May 10. He is undergoing treatment in Karachi. Sindhi Adabi Sangat General Secretary Dr Mushtaq Phul said the historian has lost an eye. “That was a savage attack on a person who made commendable contributions by writing on the history of Sindh.”

Dr Phul says that although the police have arrested one of the men accused, the overall investigation was unsatisfactory. “The police did not even contact Khwajai for his account,” he maintained.

Dr Phul alleged that the Sindh culture department director, Manzoor Kanasro, has assured financial help in Khwajai’s treatment: “Rs100,000 will be provided in a few days,” Kanasro informed The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2011.