Posthumously awarded Shan Dahar awaits justice

SUKKUR:

It was the last day of the year in 2013, and the last hour of Shan Dahar’s life. Before his shooting, Shan Dahar had called a police official and expressed his concern over the heavy aerial firing in his locality. He pleaded that residents of the area were terrified. Police should have taken notice of this.

It didn’t. Soon after, Dahar himself became a victim of that firing. The death of Shan Dahar, a journalist based in Larkana, remains a mystery. Was he mistakenly shot during aerial firing or was it a targeted killing? Or, was it an act of negligence that resulted in the death of yet another journalist?

Dahar’s family still awaits justice.

Meanwhile, to mark the World Press Freedom Day, PPF has conferred the 2014 PPF Press Freedom Award on Shan Dahar. The award carries a cash prize of Rs100,000.

Dahar, who was shot near the City Block in Badah Town area of the city, was killed by a single bullet. He was not given medical attention in time. In an official statement, PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam hinted at the possibility that Dahar’s death was not accidental. The PPF statement called on the government to formally order credible reinvestigation of the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2014.