A day after five men of Bhand community and a policeman were killed in Nawabshah allegedly by men of Zardari tribe over a land dispute, the former continued its protest on the National highway on Sunday along with the bodies.
The affected community was joined by the leaders of several political parties who all blamed the provincial government for allegedly supporting the Zardari tribesmen.
The protesters demanded that the incident's FIR should be registered against the PPP's MPA Haji Ali Hassan Zardari and other nominated suspects of Zardari tribe. However, more than 36 hours passed after the incident, which occurred in a village in Qazi Ahmed taluka on Saturday morning, but the FIR has not been lodged
Khamiso Khan Bhand, a representative of the community, blamed the police high-ups for acting partisan on behalf of Zardaris. He said the attackers even killed a police inspector but the police are not booking them for that crime. "The police on the contrary have detained our men who have been shifted to unknown places," Bhand allegd.
Naek Muhammad Bhand said the slain policeman, sub inspector Abdul Hameed Khoso, tried to stop the armed Zardari tribesmen but they shot him dead.
According to the local sources, a clan of the Bhand community claimed to have purchases a large piece of agricultural land in 2012 and that the property documents were also duly transferred to their names. However, Zardaris also claimed ownership of the same land and occupied it.
"Those staging dramas of organising tractor rally marches for the farmers' rights are actually killing the farmers," said Sindh United Party Chairman Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah. He blamed the PPP's leadership for resorting to killing people for land.
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He alleged that 390 acres land of Bhand community in a village in Qazi Ahmed has been occupied by Zardaris in collusion with the police and revenue authorities. "Yesterday's assault has made 18 children orphans," he bewailed, adding that five men of Bhands are missing.
Shah deplored that Bhands were at the sit-in protest along with the bodies for over 24 hours but the provincial government is acting with indifference. He announced that his party would organize protests in whole province on February 15, giving the strike call for the same day as well. The JUP's leader urged the federal government to intervene to help the people get back their lands being occupied by Zardari mafia.
Sindh Taraqi Pasand party's chairman Dr Qadir Magsi said the PPP's provincial government is supporting the assailants. "The Sindh government and the local administration are directly responsible for these killings."
Pakistan Muslim League-Functional's leader Sher Muhammad Rind said if the police do not book and arrest the culprits from Zardaris, the police would be considered accomplice in the heinous crime. He announced that they would provide meal and other required support to the protesters if they wanted to continue the sit-in protest for one or two months.
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