Jacobabad becomes battlefield as rigging allegations emerge

Protesters set fire to SPSF office after armed men open fire on them from its roof.

SUKKUR:

Parts of Jacobabad turned into battlefields on Monday when Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) workers allegedly opened fire on a rally organised by the 10-party alliance at Civil Hospital Road, injuring 15 people.

Trouble first started brewing when Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) and other parties in the alliance called for a strike on Monday in Jacobabad over the returning officer’s “inordinate delay” in issuing the results.

In the morning, scores of activists from different parties including PML-N, Pakistan Muslim League - Functional (PML-F), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), Soomro Ittehad and Shahree Ittehad, gathered outside the press club and staged a sit-in while shouting slogans against the caretaker government and the Election Commission of Pakistan. They said both had failed to conduct free and fair elections.

In other protests in Jacobabad, party activists were shouting slogans against the district’s administration and returning officer, who they accused of siding with PPP’s candidates. When the rally reached Civil Hospital Road, armed men opened fire on the mob from the roof of the Sindh Peoples Students Federation (SPSF) office, injuring 15 people. SPSF is a wing of PPP.

In retaliation, a mob torched the SPSF office, but the culprits managed to escape. Police rushed to the scene and took the injured, including Shahid Ali, Muhammad Ameen, Farooq Ahmed, Abdul Hameed Seelro and Abdul Raheem, to Civil Hospital, Jacobabad. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the district administration called in the army and Rangers personnel to control the situation.

Over at the press club, leaders of the 10-party alliance continued to accuse PPP candidates of rigging the polls. They claimed this is why the results had not been handed over to their polling agents. People supporting the 10-party alliance also blocked the highway at Rehri. Jacobabad’s deputy commissioner met the protesters outside the press club, assuring them that a case would be registered against those who fired at the rally. The protesters dispersed after this.

More allegations fly

On Sunday night, PML-F leaders Inayatullah Buriro, Syed Zahid Hussain Shah and Syed Tahir Hussain Shah led over 2,000 activists supporting the alliance outside the district and sessions court in Sukkur as they shouted slogans against the district returning officer and election commission.



Talking to the media, Buriro, PML-F’s candidate for NA-199, accused Khursheed Shah, who was awarded PPP’s ticket for the same seat, of large scale rigging. “The officers were also siding with his nephew and son-in-law Syed Awais Qadir Shah, PPP’s candidate for PS-4 in Sukkur,” he claimed. “Many of our polling agents were kidnapped, while at many places the polling staff was stamping ballot papers in favour of PPP candidates.” He added that video clips of rigging by the PPP supporters were handed to the DRO. Three hours later, the DRO and district and sessions judge, Saleem Jan Khan, met the protesters and assured them the complaints would be passed on to the high-ups. The sit-in was called off after this assurance. Buriro has made an appeal to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the rigging.

Agha Ayub Shah, JUI-F’s candidate for NA-198 in Sukkur, accused PPP leaders and supporters of rigging. Similarly, PML-F candidate at PS-7 in Ghotki, Mian Abdul Khaliq, accused his rival, Sardar Ahmed Ali Pitafi of PPP, of rigging the polls.

Seat results

The result of PS-14 in Jacobabad was announced 48 hours after the last vote was cast. PML-N’s Aslam Abro was declared the winner and Sardar Muqeem Khoso of PPP as the runner-up. The results of NA-208 in Jacobabad are still pending.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2013.