Mohammad Rehman died in old clothes. A receipt for his new shalwar kameez, which he was supposed to pick up from the tailor later in the day ahead of a graduation ceremony, was found in his pocket, stained red. After years of rigorous study, he was finally going to graduate an Aalim on Friday.
Thirty-year-old Rehman was killed on Thursday when two Frontier Constabulary (FC) soldiers opened fire on students of Jamia Darul Quran madrassa located in Quaidabad near Hospital Chowrangi, police said.
“There was a scuffle between some students and three FC men over a petty issue,” said Quaidabad SHO Nasir Mashwani. “One student was killed and four others received gunshot wounds.”
Three FC men have been arrested - Hawaldar Muhammad Khurshid, Sepoy Muhammad Faraz and Sepoy Liaquat. All of them belong to FC Platoon 340 and were stationed at Quaidabad police station.
According to the FIR No. 119/2012, Faraz and Liaquat used a submachine gun and a semiautomatic ‘China’ rifle to shoot at the students at around 11am. FC’s senior official in Karachi, Iqbal Dara, did not respond to phone calls.
The fight broke out after Hawaldar Khurshid asked the administration of the two-storey seminary to remove a concrete-mixing machine parked in a narrow adjacent lane, students and police said.
“The roof of the seminary is under construction. So the administration said it can’t be moved but Khurshid was adamant,” said Yasir Kundi, a witness. “There was a scuffle and the students thrashed him.” When Hawaldar Khurshid was able to get away, he threatened to come back and take revenge, he said. “Then the FC men came and fired straight at the students.”
Besides Rehman, four other students were also injured.
Teachers of the seminary, who were at the hospital, said Hawaldar Khurshid lost his temper when some cement fell on to his shirt from the construction at the roof.
“Rehman had nothing to do with this incident,” said Abdul Khabir, his uncle who brought the body to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. “He came out only to see what was happening. It was such a big day for him tomorrow.”
Rehman, who hailed from Hazara, lived at the seminary and completed an eight-year-long Dars-e-Nizami course. According to his uncle, he was going to pick up his new suit from Abdul Wahab Fashion Centre. It cost him Rs280.
After the incident, the madrassa students and other members of the public went to the Quaidabad police station to protest. They surrounded the police station and started hurling rocks at it, but the mob was warded off by the police.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2012.
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I think these rangers and police wala are above the law and only MQM know how to handle these bast. and i like MQM on this issue.
It is tragic and the FC must be prosecuted but we I have personal experience how religious seminaries behave. They built a mosque on the play ground of our school and when the then AC/SDM wanted to demolish it they started announcements from mosques and hundreds of people gathered. We lost the play ground and on the adjoining area maulavi built a house to reside.
It cost him Rs280.
most sobering phrase I have ever read.
RangerGARDI !!! Hundreds and Thousands of miscreants roaming around and snatching every thing from handsets to souls under the very nose of these of these so called "Rangers" ,and here we are with the "defender of the the Awam " killing innocent boys !!!
@Muhammed Usama Aziz: i agree usama but they are also to blame, thats wht i meant
@kamran don't single out mosques please. We have a habit of blaming mosques. These construction machines are a common sight all over Karachi wherever construction is going on. And secondly if there was any thing wrong, they should have booked them. OPENING FIRE IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY!!
It is wrong that the FC men killed the boy but please ET dont sensationalise the issue, Why did they refuse to move the construction machinery, why did they beat him up, mosques are in a habit of being above the law all know that but both parties have part of the blame.
That is so sad. Government must take action and so must the FC high ups. If they don't then Supreme Court must take action because this is plain ridiculous!