Power games: Naushero Feroz teacher knocks on all doors for son

KARACHI:

Take away all my belongings and whatever else you want but for God’s sake don’t kill my innocent son, begged an aged father minutes before his son was shot dead.

Armed men had entered Muhammad Urs’ house in the Old Jatoi area of Naushero Feroz in the middle of the night on September 5. “Is he your beloved son?” one of the armed men asked the helpless father. “Yes, he is my beloved son, my only hope,” he responded. “I want to kill him then.” The man did not even flinch as he pulled the trigger.

The family of this retired teacher was in deep slumber before the men barged into their house. A few minutes later, they were crying over the body of their 21-year-old Nisar Ahmed Mashori.

Several people speculated about the cause of this abrupt murder but the actual motive went back to nearly a year ago when two boys of the Jatoi tribe, Babar and Abdul Rehman alias Sunny, were killed in the same area on the same night. This was an act of revenge.



Tracing origins

After the Jatoi killings, the relatives of the slain boys nominated Nisar’s uncles - Ali Gul and Ali Bux - in the murder case. However, Gul, Bux and their third brother, Dhani Bux, left the area soon after due to fear of being killed. In the aftermath of their escape, several other members of the Mashori family were nominated in other false cases and their shops were sent on fire.

Even Urs, who spent his entire life in the teaching profession, was nominated in a narcotics case. When he was produced before a court, the judge realised the case was fake and ordered the police to release him immediately. The police officials also accepted later that they registered a fake case against Urs on the ‘directives’ of an influential person. “Urs is a respectable teacher and very humble,” said a neighbour.

Seeking justice

The poor father insisted his son, Nisar, was killed by a Jatoi man. “Musharraf Jatoi killed my son even after I begged him not to. I know him.” In fact, Musharraf used to be one of Urs’ students, like most of the young men in the village. After he registered an FIR against the culprits, Urs has been knocking on all doors but to no avail.

Jirga called

As the legal system takes it time, the tribal elders in the district have adopted other tactics to stop Urs. The elders of the Jatoi family have pushed Urs and his family to come for a jirga decision even after he refused twice. The third time, Urs agreed and the jirga has been scheduled for Thursday, under the supervision of Mir Manzoor Panhwar. Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz MPA Ghulam Rasool alias Aqib Jatoi, Shafi Muhammad Mashori and others are expected to participate.

According to sources, the jirga decision will not be in favour of Urs. “The elders will impose the two Jatoi murders on Urs’ family and will ask him to pay fine of one more murder,” he said.

Even though, Nisar’s murder case is pending before an anti-terrorism court in Naushero Feroz, the Jatoi family insisted on holding the jirga. “No one can stop the heirs when they are ready for the decision,” justified SSP Imdad Shah. “We can’t stop them.” Shah disconnected, however, the phone when he was asked why the culprits are still at large. In fact, several residents of the village claimed that the Jatoi boys were not killed by the Mashoris but the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2013.