Major General Asim Bajwa. PHOTO: REUTERS
Amid a countrywide outpouring of grief and anger, the military said on Saturday its intelligence agencies will help investigate the brutal murder of Sabeen Mahmud, the director and founder of The Second Floor (T2F) café, who was shot dead hours after she hosted a seminar on rights abuses in Balochistan.
Top political leaders and rights groups condemned the murder as well wishers, intellectuals, artists, rights crusaders and friends thronged the café in the upscale Defence neighbourhood where Sabeen’s body was brought for a couple of hours before her burial on Saturday.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently touring the United Kingdom, asked the authorities to investigate the incident and submit a report to him asap, said a statement issued by his media office. Though a team of senior police officials is already investigating the high-profile murder, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah ordered a judicial inquiry.
Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa denounced Sabeen’s killing in a message on his Twitter feed and said the intelligence agencies had been tasked to help investigators apprehend the perpetrators. “We condemn the tragic and unfortunate killing of Ms Sabeen Mahmud. Our heart goes out to bereaved family at this sad moment,” he added.
Sabeen was killed and her mother critically injured when gunmen riding motorcycles fired multiple gunshots at her car at a traffic signal in Defence Phase-II Extension Friday evening. Sabeen had just hosted a seminar called ‘Unsilencing Baluchistan’, focusing on the disappearance of political activists in the troubled province.
On Saturday, the police registered an FIR under sections 302 (murder), 324 (attempted murder) and the Anti-Terrorism Act against unidentified assailants on behalf of Sabeen’s mother. The police released Sabeen’s driver-cum-gunman Ghulam Abbas, who remained unhurt in the attack and was detained for questioning.
Abbas told the police that as he was sitting in the backseat he could not see the assailants but said a white-coloured car had been chasing them.
A six-member police investigation team has ruled out attempted robbery or personal enmity. “She could have been targeted by banned religious outfits while there is also a possibility that foreign spy agencies used their local operatives to kill her in order to defame Pakistan’s national institutions,” DIG Dr Jameel Ahmed, the head of the team, told The Express Tribune.
He said the police have obtained some CCTV footages and were looking for more evidence. “The police will also record statements of her family, colleagues and friends which will help investigators in probing the case,” he added.
Meanwhile, the funeral prayers for Sabeen were offered at al Mustafa Masjid in Defence and later she was laid to rest at DHA Phase-I graveyard. A large number of people attended her last rites.
Condemnations pour in
In a statement, the US Embassy called Sabeen a courageous voice of the Pakistani people and said her death represents a great loss. “We extend our deepest condolences to her loved ones and our wishes for her mother’s full and speedy recovery.”
Asif Zardari called for a thorough probe into the incident, and said his party would raise the issue in parliament.
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai also condemned “the tragic killing of a Pakistani hero and courageous human rights activist”. “I call on authorities to arrest the perpetrators of this crime and to protect Pakistan’s human rights and peace activists, especially those facing death threats,” she said.
A statement issued by the faculty and staff of LUMS termed Sabeen’s murder a ‘callous incident’ and said “five bullets will not silence what Sabeen Mahmud stood for or weaken our resolve to fight and take a stand for human rights in the country.” The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, meanwhile, said it was “deeply perturbed by the fact that voices advocating rights and tolerance are increasingly being silenced through violence all over the country.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2015.
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