SUKKUR/LARKANA: Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, secretary general of the Sindh chapter of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, was gunned down by hit men while he was offering Fajr prayers at a mosque adjacent to Madressah Haqqania in Sukkur’s SITE area on Saturday. He was 55.

Dr Soomro was still alive after having suffered multiple gunshot wounds when he was being rushed to a nearby private hospital but died on the way.

The JUI-F leader had come to Sukkur from Larkana to address ‘Pegham-i-Aman-o-Istehkam Conference’ at Mohammad Qasim Park on Friday. He spent the night at Madressah Haqqania, near Khoso village in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, SITE, and was offering Fajr prayers in the mosque adjacent to it when he was attacked.

Sukkur SSP Tanweer Tunio quoted eyewitnesses as saying that four attackers came to the mosque in a white Corolla. One of them remained in the driving seat while the other three entered the mosque and sprayed Dr Soomro with bullets, he said.

Police found four casings of bullets used in TT pistol and 11 shells of bullets used in submachine gun at the crime scene. The incident took place at 6.20am and the attackers appeared to be aged between 25 and 30 years. They were speaking to each other in Balochi, according to eyewitnesses.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has formed a four-member inquiry committee headed by DIG Dr Sain Rakhio Mirani. The SSPs of Sukkur, Shikarpur and Khairpur will be its members.

Dr Soomro is survived by six sons, two daughters and a widow.

LAID TO REST: Wrapped in JUI-F’s flag, Dr Soomro’s body was lowered into the grave at Gulshan-i-Haqqani, a residential colony in Larkana named after his illustrious father, on Saturday night amid touching scenes.

The heirs of Dr Soomro did not allow a team of doctors who had come from Sukkur to perform an autopsy on the body and declared Dr Soomro a martyr.

Thousands of people from different walks of life, leaders of JUI-F and nationalist parties arrived in caravans from all over the province to attend the funeral.

Khalid Soomro was recognised as a great advocate of Sindh’s rights throughout his life.

Masood Ahmed Soomro, younger brother of Dr Mehmood, led the funeral prayers at the stadium for which the district administration had made extensive lighting arrangements.

Not only the stadium was packed to capacity but people were also seen standing on the nearby railway track and roads leading to the venue. People kept pouring in even after the prayers were over, causing traffic jams at many points.

Heavy contingents of police called in from different districts were deployed along the road to the stadium, burial place and roads leading to the residence of the slain JUI-F leader. Police were also deployed at important points across the city while Rangers kept patrolling the streets.

The charged participants wracked by grief voice kept raising slogans of ‘Allah o Akbar’. Before Namaz-i-janaza, slogans were raised against the Sindh government and terrorists. The number of the mourners was estimated at over 100,000.

Earlier, the body was brought to Jamia Ishaatul Quran wal Hadith for the people to have last glimpse of their leader but due to an uncontrollable crowd, it was again shifted to the house and a group of selected leaders and friends of Dr Soomro including Maulana Abdul Samad Halejvi, emir of JUI-F Sindh, and others were allowed to have the last glimpse before burial.

The roads leading to the Madressah were packed with people who had come all the way from different areas of the country to participate in the funeral.

A complete shutter-down strike was observed in Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts and their adjoining towns and processions were also taken out in protest against the murder.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of JUI-F could not make it to the funeral but other leaders of his party including Maulana Attaur Rehman, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Akram Durrani, Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, Abdul Samad Halejvi, emir of JUI-F Sindh attended the funeral.

Jalal Mehmood Shah chairman of Sindh United Party, Dr Qadir Magsi of STP, Sannan Qureshi chairman of JSQM, Dr Niaz Kalani, Riaz Chandio chairman of his faction of JSQM, Syed Zain Shah, Haji Munwar Ali Abbasi, and other nationalist leaders also attended the funeral.

The JUI-F leaders and sons of the slain leader appealed to people to remain calm and peaceful and not lose patience.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2014