KARACHI: Hours before being shot at a rally held by the Awami Tehreek against a move to divide Sindh on May 22, 2012, Ghazala Siddiqi, 43, received an early morning phone call from her maternal uncle, Usman Baloch, who asked her not to participate in the Mohabbat-i-Sindh rally. “But it was already too late,” he says while speaking to Dawn on Saturday.

Born in Paath Darho Goth, also known as Paath Sharif, in Dadu district, Ghazala moved to Lyari with her family in the 1980s and subsequently moved to Hyderabad. She worked with the Pakistan International Airlines and her husband was also an employee of the national flag carrier in Italy.

She was among the 12 people who were gunned down by armed men allegedly belonging to the Arshad Pappu gang. They opened fire on the rally when it came towards Paan Mandi near Denso Hall.

While Ayaz Latif Palijo of the Awami Tehreek blamed political parties for the attack at a press conference, trade unionist and activist Usman Baloch said he did not choose to react at the time, “because an emotional reaction from my side might have put the lives of her [Ghazala’s] four children in jeopardy.”

Four years on, the entire debate about the division of Sindh has taken a backseat. But analysts warn that it would not remain so for a long time as it is one issue that has been used by political parties over a period of time to gain political mileage.

Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan, adjunct professor at the mass communication department of University of Karachi, said that the political situation might have changed over the past four years, but the actors were still the same.

Explaining the situation when Mohabbat-i-Sindh rally was organised, he said, “The same Peoples Amn Committee, which was then backed by the establishment, is now being contained by them. The MQM, which is alleged to have backed the Arshad Pappu gang at that time, might have lost its militant might but they still hold political power in Karachi.”

He added, “What we need to understand is that the strands holding all of these groups are coming from one powerful actor and they decide what happens and when.”

“The nationalist parties are no different,” he said. “They seasonally come to the fore to speak against the division of Sindh and to some extent follow the establishment’s line when it suits them.”

However, Professor Jafar Ahmed of the Karachi University’s Pakistan Study Centre said that the actors might have changed but the issues were still the same and needed to be looked into seriously.

He said that the concerns of the majority related to demography in Sindh could be addressed if all stakeholders participate together in solving them. “Ideally this is what that should happen,” he added.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2016