Last rites: JSQM leader, activist laid to rest amid tight security

The party holds state agencies responsible for the murders.

SUKKUR: A leader and activist of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) were laid to rest near the grave of the party's former chairperson, Bashir Qureshi, around one kilometre away from Ratodero bypass on Monday morning.

The charred bodies of the two men were found in a burnt car near Bhiria Road on Friday morning. JSQM spokesperson, Maqsood Qureshi, and the president of Jeay Sindh's Latif Sangat wing, Salman Wadhiyo, were laid to rest amid tight security and thousands of mourners. The burial procession was attended by the party's chairperson, Sunan Qureshi, its senior vice-chairperson Dr Niaz Kalani, Hanif Sagar Burdi and thousands of the party's workers and activists.

After the burial procession, Dr Kalani, in his address to the media, held state agencies responsible for the murders. He stressed that his party workers were not afraid of laying down their lives for the right of their motherland. Dr Kalani revealed that after the murder of the two leaders, officers from the district administration in Karachi had requested the party to change the venue of their 'Freedom March' from Tibet Centre to Malir but they had refused.

He claimed that the huge turnout for the rally in Karachi proved that the people were well aware of their rights and would not allow them to be usurped. The central body of the party will decide whether to register an FIR into the murders after their soyem on March 26.

A heavy contingent of police and Rangers was deployed at Ratodero bypass to avert any untoward incident. The leaders and workers of the JSQM and other nationalist parties, who participated in the burial rites, remained peaceful throughout the funeral. Later, food was distributed among the participants.

Both Maqsood and Salman were visiting different parts of Sindh to muster support for their March 23 rally in Karachi. On Thursday night, they left Mehar for Dadu, but never reached their destination.

Their charred bodies were found the next morning. Their bodies were taken to Karachi, where doctors at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre conducted their postmortem. Their namaz-e-janaza was offered at Tibet Centre in Karachi on March 23, after which their bodies were dispatched to Ratodero for burial.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2014.