Yadgar-e-Shuhada Karsaz: At 5th anniversary of tragedy, investigators still going round in circles

At Gahri Khuda Bukhsh, the graves of 18 unidentified victims lie forgotten.

SUKKUR/ KARACHI:

The Shuhada-e-Karsaz monument, a recent addition to the ever-changing cityscape, was adorned with flowers and candles on Thursday morning as people paid homage to those killed five years ago when twin blasts ripped through a homecoming parade organised for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Not much was different from the gatherings organised at the spot in previous years - allegations were levelled, the incident was labelled a conspiracy and vows were made to apprehend the culprits responsible for the deaths of over 180 people. Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) leaders offered Fateha at the memorial, a three-part structure with a ten-foot marble base bearing the names of the killed people.

“It seems as if a conspiracy was hatched against Benazir,” said Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah. He said that Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, the chief minister at the time of the incident, did not provide adequate security to Benazir and created hurdles for the investigation. “Soon after the blasts, the government dowsed the spot with water, washing away valuable evidence in the process,” he said. “We were the victims, but the police registered cases without consulting us. When we approached them, they turned us away and told us that another case could not be registered.”

The chief minister added that he has asked the Crime Investigation Department’s assistant inspector general, Ghulam Shabir Shaikh, to probe the incident and submit a report within two weeks. “The preliminary investigation has revealed similarities to the Rawalpindi incident on December 27 in which Benazir was killed.”

Local government minister Agha Siraj Durrani, who was a member of Benazir’s private security squad, said that when PPP realised that the government would not provide security, it arranged its own. He also alleged that Dr Rahim seemed to know more about the attack than he was letting on.

Daad Rahim, a worker of the party who survived the attack, said that he could not forget the incident. PPP MPA Farzana Baloch said that the image of blood-soaked bodies lying on the road and injured crying for help was seared into her memory.

Information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, archives minister Rafique Engineer, law minister Ayaz Soomro, finance minister Murad Ali Shah,  PPP MNA Qadir Patel who is also the president of the party’s  Karachi division, and PPP MNA Gul Muhammad Jakhrani were among those present at the event.

According to statement issued by PPP’s Karachi division, the party’s leaders also visited victims’ houses and a pictorial exhibition was organised at Peoples Secretariat in Karachi.

The forgotten graves

While PPP leaders swarmed around the monument on Shahrae Faisal, over 450 kilometres away in Gahri Khuda Buksh, the graves of 18 unidentified people who lost their lives in the incident remained devoid of much activity.

The victims had been burnt so badly that their bodies were beyond recognition. Benazir Bhutto had asked the party’s leaders to bury them behind the mausoleum of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This was done promptly and plaques with the inscription  ‘Mein Bhutto Hoon’ (I am Bhutto) were fixed on every grave.

But nobody has been taking care of them. Years of heavy downpour have damaged and swept away the plaques. Like every year, no PPP leader visited the graves on October 18 to offer Fateha. A few students from a religious seminary of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh held a Quran Khawani, offered Fateha at the graves and then dispersed.

Despite repeated attempts, no PPP leaders from Larkana, including Khair Mohammad Shaikh and Abdul Fatah Bhutto, could be reached for comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2012.