Militants in Karachi assassinated a prominent human rights defender, Khurram Zaki, on May 7. He was on the hit lists of ISIS, Taliban, and their affiliated outfits. He had informed the police, and the governments of Sindh Province and Pakistan, about the death threats he had been receiving. But as per usual, in the policy of appeasing fundamentalists and militant organizations, the law enforcement agencies, including Pakistan Rangers and the Military itself, avoided taking any action against fundamentalist organisations within Pakistan, which happen to be directly affiliated with internationally infamous terrorist organisations.
In the case of Zaki, the police refused to register a case against the leaders of the terrorist organisations. A civil society delegation from Karachi contacted the police in the concerned police station, and went all the way up to higher levels of police officers, who all refused to put the names of leaders of terrorist outfits on the First Information Report (FIR).
The Senior Superintendent Police Officer (SSP) took 20 hours to allow concerned police station to file a first information report (FIR), after consulting the Pakistan Rangers and officers from the government. The police refused to file the FIR that had the names of Maulana Abdul Aziz (notorious Maulana of Lal Masjid) and Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi (Chief of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat). These were men who were openly threatening to kill Zaki and his friends that were protesting against extremists using mosques for their hate campaigns. Police officers insisted that the complainants should file a case against unknown persons, but the delegation was able to pull down the wall put up by the Karachi police.
Zaki was with his friends sitting at a café, when four armed men who arrived on two motorcycles targeted him. His friend, Rao Khalid, along with two other persons, was shot and is seriously injured. Mr. Khalid also narrated the facts about the target killers and the attack but the government and police refused to file a case until the delegation had to resort to a sit in, in front of the office of the SSP.
In December 2015, Zaki led street protests against Maulana Aziz of Lal Masjid, demanding the cleric be arrested and charged with hate speech for allegedly justifying various attacks, such as the Peshawar School Massacre, where 134 schoolchildren were killed in 2014. He was also a vocal critic against the excesses of paramilitary forces in Karachi, forces that had taken to arresting and extrajudicially killing political activists.
According to a news report, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, the Hakeemullah Group, has claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to Reuters, saying Zaki had been targeted for his stance against radical cleric Abdul Aziz.
According to the Express Tribune, a delegation of the European Union visiting Pakistan has extended its sympathy to the family and friends of the slain rights activist. In a statement on Sunday, the delegation urged Pakistan to strengthen the protection of those who stand up for the rights of others and ensure all citizens of Pakistan are guaranteed their constitutional right to freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
“This heinous crime is a stark reminder of the grave dangers facing journalists and human rights defenders in Pakistan, coming only a few days after the UN Press Freedom Day on May 3,” the statement read.
In recent years, several human rights defenders have assassinated by the State and by Muslim extremists, among them are Sabeen Mehmood, Perveen Rehman, Governor Salman Taseer, former Federal Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, Mohammad Ali, Rashid Rehman, Malik Jarar, Saleem Shahzad, Sardar Arif Shahid, Mustansar Randhawa and also many more from Balochistan and Sindh Province. The country is a highly unsafe place for human rights defenders, who have been left to the mercy of militant groups and law enforcement agencies.
In end November 2015, the government of Pakistan, under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif voted against a United Nations General Assembly resolution that called for recognising the role of human rights defenders (HRDs) and the need for their protection. This government position is the reason that authorities, fascist elements, and Muslim militant organisations, which includes world infamous terrorist groups, feel free to attack the human rights defenders in the name of establishing Islam in the country and eliminating anti-Islamic forces.
Mr. Zaki was an outspoken voice against religious fundamentalism and sectarian killings in Pakistan and has become another casualty in a long line of progressive activists killed for working against rising fascism and violence in Pakistani society.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the government of Pakistan to immediately arrest the accused persons named in the FIR and try them under the Anti-Terrorist Act. The appeasement of Muslim militants by the government will turn Pakistan into a fascist and medieval State. The government must initiate a judicial inquiry into the murder of Zaki and must promulgate legislation for the protection of human rights defenders.
The Pakistan Rangers, who have been deputed to Karachi since September 2013, ostensibly to maintain law and order, must also be held responsible for the killings of human rights defenders in Karachi, as they have been permitting terrorist organisation to operate freely in Karachi.
