Academics to observe ‘black day’ on Monday over PhD’s murder

Police fail to make substantial arrests, say accused fled with their families

HYDERABAD:

The killing of an assistant professor of Sukkur IBA University in Kashmore-Kandhkot district on April 6 has sparked protests and condemnation in the whole province but no immediate reaction can be seen from the policy makers regarding the rampant kidnappings and tribal feuds in upper Sindh.

The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) on Friday announced that the teachers in all universities in Sindh will observe a black day on Monday, April 10, to condemn the killing of Sukkur IBA University's Prof Assistant Prof Muhammad Ajmal Sawand, 38, and to express solidarity.

The opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh, as well as nationalist leaders condemned the killing and blamed the Pakistan Peoples Party's government in Sindh for continuing to give a free hand to criminal feudal lords, tribal chiefs and dacoits.

"Dr Ajmal Sawand's killing is the murder of education and the murder of Pakistan's future," said the opposition leader.

He bemoaned that a PhD in artificial intelligence who left his teaching career in Paris, France, to teach the youth in his own province was shot dead over no fault of his own.

"That innocent man became a victim of the cruel feudal, tribal and dacoit culture which is being patronized for political gains by the PPP government."

Sheikh cautioned that such killings would continue unabated as long as “the rotten system of feudal and tribal lords and dacoits is allowed to flourish in Sindh for someone’s political interests.”

Dr Fahad Nazir Khoso, the president of FAPUASA Sindh chapter, expressed shock at the savage killing of Dr Sawand. He said the slain teacher was not involved in any tribal rift but still his life was taken to settle tribal scores. He demanded immediate action against the culprits while announcing a province wide protest for April 10.

"We will have to activate the civil society and all  the influential forums to collectively raise voice and pressurise the government to take effective measures [against tribal crimes]," Dr Khoso said.

Also read: Tribal feud claims life of prominent educationist

Meanwhile, Sindh Taraqi Pasand party has announced protests across the province on April 9. The party's chairman Dr Qadir Magsi said the entire province was mourning Dr Sawand's killing.

"Tribal warfare has become a big menace in Sindh. It needs to be stopped but the government doesn’t seem too bothered,” he observed. He argued that all tribal clashes can end if the government arrests the tribal chiefs who are fuelling such disputes.

The president of Jeay Sindh Mahaz, Riaz Ali Chandio, accused the provincial government for deliberately letting the tribal clashes and dacoits take the rural society hostage so that it can manipulate frightened and controlled people.

"The kidnappings and killings have become a routine in Sindh but the powerful people sitting in Islamabad and Karachi are acting with indifference," he deplored.

The Sindh United Party's President Syed Zain Shah said the government has made the feudal and tribal chiefs the makers and enforcers of law in their respective areas. He saw a conspiracy behind the growing incidents of kidnappings for ransom and the tribal clashes which claim innocent lives.

Investigation

The Kashmore-Kandhkot police raided the village Sardar Khan Sundrani in Kankhkot on Thursday to arrest the suspects but the main accused had already escaped with their families.

The police officials disclosed that six suspects had been picked up in connection with the incidents but none of them were among the persons nominated in the FIR.

The A-Section police in Kandhkot registered the FIR of the killing, nominating 10 persons with names besides two unidentified men. Although the district's SSP Irfan Samo had told The Express Tribune that the cause of the murder was honour killing, the complainant in the FIR stated that the accused were seeking extortion.

"Around 15 days ago when my brother and I went to our agriculture field in Kankhkot, Aijan Ali Sundrani and his armed men approached us and demanded Rs2 million extortion from my brother," stated Muhammad Ashraf Sawand, brother of the slain teacher, in the FIR.

According to him, Sundrani had warned his brother that if his latest warning was ignored, then Sawand would be kidnapped for ransom.

The complainant stated that on April 6 when they were leaving in their vehicle for Sukkur, Sundranis intercepted them on the road and asked his brother to come. He claimed that the same extortion threat was repeated before all of the accused men opened fire on his brother one by one with their G3 and Kalashnikov rifles.

Sawand was rushed to the local hospital and was declared dead on arrival.