Protest turns violent as police use guns, batons to disperse crowd

Awami Tehreek activitst killed, six others shifted to Hyderabad in serious condition.

HYDERABAD: A man was killed and 13 others, including women and children, were injured as police clashed with protesters outside the SSP’s office in Dadu on Thursday.

People belonging to the Brahmani community, along with activists of Sindhi nationalist parties, were staging a sit-in outside the police station and demanding the arrest of the culprits behind the murder of Bashir Brahmani. Bashir was killed last month near the Wahi Pandhi area of Johi tehsil.

The police, led by ASP Sajid Mir Sabzoi, used batons and aerial firing to disperse the protesters. The people, meanwhile, pelted the policemen and their vehicles with stones, and the clash continued for over half an hour. Police arrested 10 protesters, while Station Road, Shahi Bazaar, New Chowk, Cinema Chowk and other markets were shut down.

Aashiq Brahmani, a primary schoolteacher and an activist of the Awami Tehreek (AT), died while he was being shifted to Hyderabad for treatment. At least five women, including AT women’s wing district president Ameer Zadi Brahmani, were injured, while six people were reportedly shifted to Hyderabad in a serious condition.

Zulfiqar Brahmani claimed that the police assaulted the protesters when they refused to end their sit-in. “The situation turned violent when a policeman snatched a photo of Bashir from his mother’s hands and tore it.”

Dadu SSP Dr Farooq Aiwan ordered an inquiry into the incident. Saeed Jamali, a brother of MNA Rafiq Jamali, negotiated with the police and the Brahmani community, but failed to break a stalemate as the protesters demanded the arrest of the policemen responsible for attacking them.

The Sindh Taraqi Pasand and Awami Tehreek announced a three-day mourning period after the incident.

With additional reporting by Wali Chandio

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2012.