His driver was also killed when unidentified gunmen started blind firing on his car outside the university.
Gunmen on motorcycles intercepted his car near the university on Jalalpur Road and opened fire at the vehicle, shooting the professor and his driver Khadim Hussain. Both of them died on the spot.
"Gunmen riding a motorbike sprayed bullets on his vehicle when he was about to reach the university campus in (the) morning. His driver was also killed in the attack," district police chief Ali Nasir Rizvi said.
"He was a Shia by sect and a very progressive official of the campus," Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a spokesperson for the university told AFP.
Another colleague said Shah had previously received threats.
"He had been threatened by unknown people in the past," a professor at Gujrat University said on condition of anonymity.
The police also later confirmed that Shah was Shia Muslim.
"We found a note at the scene of Shah's death which read: 'This is retaliation for Rawalpindi'," deputy superintendent of police Manzoor Malik told Reuters, referring to the clashes in Rawalpindi over the weekend in which eight people were killed.
"The note was signed, 'Lashkar-e-Jhangvi'."
Previous attacks
Pakistan has seen a spate of attacks on Shia professionals in recent months.
On September 26, a professor of Islamia College was shot while driving his car in Karachi.
According to the police two unidentified men on a motorcycle had fired on Professor Ghulam Nabi Wassan’s car. Wassan was immediately rushed to hospital.
In June, Professor Azfar Rizvi, along with his driver, was gunned down by unknown assailants in Karachi.
In March this year, poet and former principal of Liaquatabad College Professor Sibte Jafar was shot dead in Karachi. He too was gunned down by unidentified men riding a motorcycle.
Shia doctors too have been targeted and in November, two doctors were gunned down in Karachi. They were identified by police as Dr Sher Ali and Dr Naseem Zaidi respectively.
COMMENTS (73)
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@Aysha M:
"And why do we even have this debate of minorities, why isnt everybody an equal citizen of the country, why belonging to a reliogious denomination affects citizenship."
Why everybody isn't equal in Pakistan? Read the Pakistani constitution, especially the Objectives Resolutions. It casts all "non-Muslims" as second class citizen. This has applied to Hindus, Christians and Sikhs ever since the creation of Pakistan, but only lately catching with the Shia and Ahmedis.
On a larger picture, Pakistan was not created on the basis of an egalitarian and progressive vision. Its main purpose was to protect the power, wealth, land and hierarchy of the erstwhile elite Muslims of per-independence India. Jinnah just lied to get the Muslim passion riled up. If the "true" Muslims were a different nation and couldn't live with the HIndus, by extension of the logic, they can't also live with "lesser" Muslims such as Ahmedis, Shias etc.
@Aysha M:
"Pakistan is nothing but a sectarian sty, where there is no room for tolerant and progressive interpretation of Islam"
While I sympathize with your views and feelings, the truth/problem is, there can be no "progressive interpretation" of Islam as laid down by the scriptures. You simply have to follow the teachings without question. If to be "interpreted", whose interpretation is the final word? You see the problem?
@Raza: different ways of achieving one goal. Your approach looks is more sophisticated and silk but i guess you have putting too much effort and time for booting one comment. :)
It is more than just interesting to observe that Islamic people of different sects have moved in large numbers to countries all around the world, and the above type of violence does not appear to occur. Just the reverse. Islamic people without being pushovers are relatively peaceful. Why does it occur in Pakistan so often?
this is Pakistan......What a shame. thanks God, out of practice no boday is blaming MQM for this
The driver Khadim Hussain is my best friend's brother and he did not have anything to do with this sectarian violence. A humble retired army officer.
Remember the words of Altaf Hussain that Paksitan is a sinking Titanic. What MQM has been forewarning for years is now unfolding day by day. Believe me Pakistan is just steps away from being taken over by Talibaans, Secterians etc. That's why JI, PTI, and PML N are in favour of talking to them, which simply show that these parties are and will be partner with these killers.
@Raza: it doesn't burst my bubble because i always knew it was tricked to push the counter and my friend, refreshing the page from remote connection does work my friend but i would be curious why someone will do that and if someone has enough spare time for that. :)
@Zara: offcourse you can. :)
@Patriot: having reserves is one thing, but it is on the record that Iran imports natural gas, and then export it.
@ptr: You are uninformed sir. Iran has the second largest gas reserved in the world.I din't know where do you get your information. May be TTP run radio?
Looks like Gujrat is not a good place for minority!
@kiran in reply to: @Asif and Umer…. U guys r the reason two nation theory is right…next time u Indians want to comment disguising as Pakistanis try to choose some other name then that of our cricketers….:) .. Kiran (Hindi: किरण) is a gender neutral given name. It is of Sanskrit origin. In Sanskrit, it means "ray" and often uses to mean "ray of light" or "beam of light"
Talk about irony!! LOL!
Clear case of shia killing.
The government must end its support and stop sympathizing with sectarian elements LeJ SSP JUI sort of organization whose foundation is based on spewing sectarian hatred. The Nation is deeply divided on sectarian issues where one will see no pakistanis but Shia's and Sunnis. what a mess.
I hope anyone china ,India or Russia Occupies Pakistan and Annex it as part of that country, but who is going to put hands in Fire.Looks like it will everntually burn Pakistan to ground.
@Aysha M: the madness was ALWAYS at our doorsteps. I have lost way too many family members because I am shia and it is not a new thing, it has been this way as long as I can remember. I have grown up with pictures of shaheeds in my mosques. Just because hatim is talking about shia rights does not mean he's opposing rights of the ahmadis.
@Zara: Are you kidding me?? Wow. He is not the first successful shia to be gunned down. Shias being killed is an everyday thing now. Doctors, politicians, teachers, lawyers, people wearing black clothes in muharram! You can not be so blind to not see that it has everything to do with being shia.
@Hatim: No it doesnt. These names are common in all sects. Infact it has to do with the sick mindset and value of a common man these days, which unfortunately is devaluing.
Theocracy is always regression back into history-the darker history.If government can't put the mullahs in their place and ban or modernise madrassas, how can it fight Taliban and other hate-mongers with guns .The fact that media and politicians fan it ,and majority tolerates it are all signs of that regression.Religion is what you make of it-a positive force or a negativity.It is the condition of one's heart,and trying to comment on somebody else's is a perversion,and forcing one's on others an evil.And evil begets evil,and evil is non-discriminatory.It will bite the vocal as much as the silent,innocent as well as the perpetrators.
@Mustafa: Then why the Professor was killed? You should tell the authorities and these motorbike riding crazies need to be stopped.
This is what two nation theory was actually all about. A partition because followers of two different religions cannot live together. Next partition because two sections of different linguistic identities and looks could not live together. Now again a similar situation where two different interpretations of a religion has become an issue now. So what to do now?????
Punjab is hub of sectarian killings. Sindh is hub of political and target killings. KP is hub of militant jihadi killings Balochistan is hub of rebellion killings.
So in Pakistan 50% of the killings are religiously motivated while remaining 50% of the killing has nothing to do with religion. Target killing in Karachi is astronomical followed by suicide or bomb blasts in KP.
Mullah, Madrassa and Taliban are running wild in Pakistan and nobody to stop them.
he is teaching science and commonsense. so he is anti islamic. deserves death penalty according to allah's law
@waseem sarwar: Thanks for telling me and others the way, we or at least i didn't know about it. Why would i care to have 1000+ likes for my comment. Should i doubt your 6 or 27 likes ;)
Shabbir Shah was my colleague at the University of Gujrat. He was a renowned Shia of the area but more than that he was a genuine liberal whose presence ensured safety of students from minority sects, particularly Ahmadis. Anyone who doubts he was killed for being a Shia should come out of his fool's paradise
But Pakistanis are still busy in condemning what happened in the "other" side of Gujarat 12 years ago.............
Rubbish ptr.........everybody knows Iran has one of the largest gas reserves in the world! Your inclination is obvious; definitely not in favour of Pakistan!
Its a very sad incident but proud to see that Gujrat university students irrespective of their believes protested against these murderers.
Another FIR will be launched against the"Na_Maloom Afraad". Our 'Good Governance' will keep on delivering Good Governance. Life will go on. We as a Nation have gotten used to living with mediocrity,corruption and incompetence. And in our make believe world, we are convinced that life will go on like this. It Won't.
This is to create more hatred between Shia and Sunni sects, and kind of start a civil war, everyone is pointing to a particular group behind it, but who is behind that group is what matters. We can take the example of Syria and Iraq where social media was used to create hatred and then fire was ignited. Indoctrination through media plays a big part in these sect elated violence.
We send our condolences to the victim’s family. We hope the culprits will be caught and punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Ali Khan
Shia community is basically an asset for pakistan as it is most literate and paying highest per capita income tax so government must protect them.
Shia community is basically an asset for pakistan as it is most literate and paying highest per capita income tax so government must protect them.
@Zara: we share the same profession but how on earth you can get 1000+ likes in one hour. The biggest flaw in ET voting system is that whenever you access this site by using a remote access machine, it doesn't track your machine's IP address so by refreshing the page, you can re-vote. :) I hope you and ET got that like me. :)
just one question for the attackers...from where are you going to find his replacement, certainly madersas are only good for teaching hatred
Don't worry. Make another movie and blame it on Iranians this time.
@waseem sarwar: I am a software Engineer by profession. How would these likes help me in my Career :) I hope you would understand what i want to say
@Zara What pattern you need to see to believe?
@Aysha M I know and the time to be vocal about it coming close.
This theory was the founding principle for a state like Pak. Sunni Iqbal and shia Jinnah (originally Zul-jinnah) came together to put life into what was already dead. Both were rational Muslims unlike the main stream and most of the population we are.
The whole country has been hijacked in the name of Islam by those who opposed its existence at the very first place. I ask myself if this country was for all Indian Muslims then why more than half stayed behind? And, those who did make it to the other end - what did they get?
@zara - please read the article carefully. It clearly states that he had been receiving threats because he was a Shia. I am sure you would have preferred if it said that Namaloom afraad killed an unknown, ordinary Pakistani
Ghazwa-e-hind?
@Asif and Umer.... U guys r the reason two nation theory is right...next time u Indians want to comment disguising as Pakistanis try to choose some other name then that of our cricketers....:)
@Asif: Two nation theory deeply and fundamentally flawed.
It is ironic that people who demanded the creation of a separate homeland because they were not treated well as a minority were not able to safeguard rights of the minority.
And why do we even have this debate of minorities, why isnt everybody an equal citizen of the country, why belonging to a reliogious denomination affects citizenship.
Looks like the two-nation theory was wrong after all. We Muslims can't live together either. What we need now is a two-sect theory. Move all minorities into separate areas in Pakistan and let the silent majority have total control on things on how to live.
By keeping minorities separate the silent majority will not have anyone in their sight so they can enjoy 100% pure Muslim life.
@Zara: I didn't know most likes on some comment helps you in your career so people use different techniques for getting more and more artificial likes. :) You increased the counter too much and too early.
@logic: Thank you so much. Legislation in 1974, which is unprecedented in the history of modern law making paved the way to what happened in Pindi on friday. All of this is a natural progression of bringing religion into public domain.
@anti elitist rawalpindi
Atta Turk can't do anything to this nation, he had support of Turks to accomplish what he did. As a nation we need to awake and Atta Turks will be born, otherwise many Atta Turks can't do anything with the sorry state we are in.
for once I tend to agree with Aysha M.
@Hatim: Why did you stay quiet when it was just the Ahmedis, the madness has now come to your doorstep and there is no stopping to it. Pakistan is nothing but a sectarian sty, where there is no room for tolerant and progressive interpretation of Islam
What happen to my Pak?? please stop listen USA and receiving Orders with bills, do some thing at home and deal these religious fanatics with Iron hand. Can Nawaz Sharif like to visit Pakistan also? Control religion seminaries and provide all with school education by eridication corruption in Education department
Why the killing of an individual is being associated with his sect even before any official statement is issued. Please journalists, don't mislead the people.
As far as IP gas deal is concerned, FYI Iran doesn't have it's own gas. Iran imports gas from some soviet country and further export it. The gas costs 4$ to Iran and it is selling it at 18$ to Pakistan. Recently Iran is also sued by Turkey for not fulfilling the agreed amount of gas. So stop saying that IP gas pipeline is in Pakistan's interest in anyway.
Pakistan needs someone like Atta turk. The religious-nationalism dominance in our society has to be replaced with common sense and secularism. Otherwise we might implode from inside.
When something like this happens, cameras and drones should be able to locate the perpetrators.
being a UOG student myself, quite shocking to hear. Gujrat has traditionally being a peaceful city.
This is an attempt by saudis to disrupt IP gas deal as well as showing Iran its place.
shia genocide at its peak,,god save pakistan
too sad....he paid the price for belonging to an opressed sect..
Shia Killing!
The writ of the government is challenged again by the seminary students across Pakistan. We have seen them defying Curfew to offer Namaz e Jinaza in Rawalpindi day before yesterday. The state of Pakistan is failing to ground.
And the genocide continues! A teacher, with no involvement in religious intolerance, has been gunned down.
"The motive behind the attack is not known as yet." Punjab Police Trolling ALL Pakistanis :S
Is it a riddle as to who is behind this?
It's all to do with the names: Shabbir and Hussain.