Citizen’s killing by Rangers condemned

Concerned Citizens of Pakistan, Awami Shehri Mahaz stage protests.

LAHORE:

Two protest demonstrations were held in the city on Sunday to condemn the killing of an unarmed youth by a Rangers team in Karachi.

One of these was organised by the Concerned Citizens of Pakistan (CCP) at Liberty Roundabout. The protesters condemned security officials for their attitude towards the citizens.

The protest was led by Justice Nasira Javed Iqbal, the CCP president, who blamed ‘non-governance’ to be the main cause behind such killings.

“There should be accountability of the armed personnel so that they think before taking decisions on the spot,” she said.

Justice Iqbal said there was increasing intolerance in the society that led to such situations.

The gunmen, she said, must not consider themselves God. Ideally the case should have been taken to a court, she added.

Another protest was held by the Awami Shehri Mahaz (ASM) in front of the Rangers Headquarter in Cantonment. The protesters marched from Rahat Bakery towards the Rangers Headquarters. They voiced their reservations against ‘unprofessional’ and ‘unethical’ behaviour of the Rangers officials.

Hashim bin Rashid, a Lahore University of Management and Sciences teacher, said that the military had been doing unchecked operations in Karachi for 17 years. “The management issued a statement calling the incident a shootout. It is clear that they can get away with almost everything,” he said.

He accused the entire establishment of being involved in lawlessness.This murder, he said, showed the behaviour of armed forces towards the civilians.

“They should perform their duties professionally and avoid intervening in politics and the economic sector,” he said.

Ammar Aziz of the ASM said that such incidents were common in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on daily basis. “The incident received media attention after footage was released, otherwise the Rangers would have covered the issue under the name of encounter.”

ASM representatives said that they planned to protest against the army every two weeks demanding them to limit themselves to their professional duties only.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2011.