Third man gunned down in three days

KARACHI: A Shia man, the second to be killed in three days, was gunned down at Tariq Road on Wednesday, as target killings on sectarian grounds continued in the city.

Zakir Hussain, son of Mutawali Hussain, was shot dead by unidentified men on a motorcycle outside Iranian Tea Store, where the victim worked.

His colleagues told the Ferozabad police that the incident occurred at around 10:30 am.

Hussain, a resident of Ibn-e-Sina Lines, hailed from the Nagar area of Gilgit and his body was sent to his native village for burial.

SHO Rao Zaheer told The Express Tribune that a probe into the incident is under way. “Though the incident appears to be related to the recent spate of target killings on a sectarian basis, it’s too early to reach a conclusion,” said the police official.

Funeral

The funeral of Agha Abid Shirazi, a Shia man who was murdered on Tuesday, was performed in Khurasan on Wednesday. He was buried at Wadi-e-Hussain graveyard.

Meanwhile, Shia leaders have condemned the killings of their sect’s members in the city.

“We demand the government arrest the culprits and punish them,” said Allama Abbas Komaili, who heads the Jafaria Alliance Pakistan (JAP).

According to JAP members, more than 100 Shia people have been killed since the Ashura blast in December 2009.

In the last three days, two other people, including a member of the Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat and a Shia man have been killed owing to their sectarian affiliation.

Peace rally

Separately, the coalition partners in the Sindh government - the Pakistan Peoples Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Awami National Party - and religious parties including the Sunni Tehreek joined hands to hold a peace rally in Shah Faisal Colony on Wednesday, in an attempt to bring normalcy to the violence-hit area. Shah Faisal Colony ranks second after Orangi among the areas worst affected by the recent spate of target killings.

According to police statistics, 11 people have been killed in the area in the last two months on ethnic or sectarian grounds.

On Tuesday, a meeting took place at the Shah Faisal Town TPO’s office in which Rangers officials also participated.

During the meeting, the law enforcers had requested political and religious parties to hold a rally in the area to restore peace there.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2010.