Mother of slain journalist fails to register FIR

Warns of repeating history of Mai Jindo if authorities try to shield killers

HYDERABAD:

Mother of slain journalist Nasrullah Gadani, who died on May 24 three days after he was fatally shot by unknown assailants in Ghotki district on May 21, has warned of repeating history of Mai Jindo if the culprits who killer her son are not punished as per the law.

Talking to the media on Sunday after a failed attempt to register an FIR of her son's murder in Mirpur Mathelo, Ghotki, she also named the chairman of a local body for attempting to kill Gadani two years ago.

"But the Almighty had saved my son. But now I don't know who killed him or who is behind the murder," Pathani Gadani, mother, said. Two daughters of Mai Jindo had self-immolated themselves on September 11, 1996, in Hyderabad outside Anti-Terrorism Court in protest against alleged dalliance in the trial of Major Arshad Jameel and over a dozen soldiers and civilians.

They all were charged with killing nine innocent civilians, two of whom were sons of Jindo and one was a son-in-law, in June, 1992, by showing them as bandits allegedly to occupy their land. Maj Jameel was later sentenced to death on October 28, 1996. Gadani's mother believed that the journalist was killed because he fearlessly exposed the elements who were indulged in plunder and in usurping rights of the poor and weak people.

While Pathani reached the police station to register the case, her son Yaqoob accompanied by local journalists was meeting the police officers. Both of them want to become complainant in the FIR. However, the mother said after losing one son she cannot risk the life of another son by letting Yaqoob pursue his brother's murder case.

"Like Mai Jindo, I have descended on the ground with a scythe to ensure that the culprits are punished by the law," she said. Some local journalists told The Express Tribune that the family members as well as Yaqoob are trying to dissuade their mother from becoming a complainant in the FIR. They want Yaqoob to pursue the case.

Separately, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and its Sukkur division and Ghotki chapters organized a protest, demanding justice for Gadani. They blamed the police for failing to arrest the killers of journalist Jan Muhammad Mahar who was shot dead in Sukkur on August 13, 2023.

Various political and social organisations protested outside the Karachi Press Club against the killing of journalist Nasrullah Gadani.

The protesters said that even an FIR has not been registered for Nasrullah Gadani's murder till date.

Even journalists are not safe in the country. Lawyers, students, and journalists protested outside the press club, demanding the arrest of Gadani's killers. They said that over a week has passed since the attack on the outspoken journalist from Mirpur Mathelo, but there was no trace of the assailants.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2024.