Voicing concern: Sunni Ittehad Council protests leader’s death in custody

The protest was called off after the Sindh govt accepted all three demands of the party's leaders.

KARACHI: Hundreds of protesters belonging to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) blocked MA Jinnah Road on Sunday where they sat with the body of their leader, Tariq Mehboob, who they claimed was killed in the custody of paramilitary Rangers.

Mehboob was remanded to the Rangers' custody for 90 days on April 16 under the Anti-Terrorism Act. He allegedly died of a heart attack in Karachi Central Jail on Saturday, around a week after he was arrested by the Rangers on allegations of providing refuge to target killers in Karachi.

Mehboob, who was also the chairperson of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan's youth wing, known as Anjuman-e-Naujawanan-e-Islam, had denied the charges when the Rangers had produced him before an anti-terrorism court.

To protest his death, the SIC, which is an umbrella organisation of religio-political parties claiming to represent followers of the Barelvi school of thought, had announced to stage a sit-in in front of Chief Minister House on Sunday.  "We refuse to bury Mehboob's body until those responsible for this extrajudicial murder are identified and brought to justice," SIC chairperson Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza, who had reached Karachi from Faisalabad to lead the protest, told The Express Tribune. "He was inhumanly tortured to death."

The provincial government, however, imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the city's red zone, banning the gathering of more than five people at one place. "After this ban, no political party or group is allowed to hold a public gathering till further orders," said CM House spokesperson. Meanwhile, the authorities erected barricades and placed containers to block the road leading to the CM House while a large police contingent was deployed in its close proximity along with water cannons.

The protesters, on their way to CM House, were stopped by the police at MA Jinnah Road near Karachi Adventist Hospital where South district deputy commissioner Saleem Rajput, East district deputy commissioner Agha Pervaiz and Senior Superintendent of Police Syed Pir Muhammad Shah successfully negotiated with the SIC leadership.

"We have placed three demands before the Sindh government," Sahibzada Raza later told The Express Tribune. "The government is asked to register an FIR under murder charges and conduct a new post-mortem examination under the supervision of a medical board. We also demand the government to conduct a judicial inquiry into the murder to bring those responsible to justice."

The SIC leadership later announced to end their five-hour-long protest after its six-member team reached an agreement with the negotiators from the provincial government's side.

"Finally, the negotiations are successful and the provincial government has agreed to accept all three demands," said Nusrat Mehboob, a younger brother of the deceased SIC leader. "The family and the SIC is committed to pursue the case. We will not step back at any cost."

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2015.