KARACHI: In a unanimous call, the political parties while condemning the lynching of two telecom workers in Machhar Colony have demanded strict, lawful and speedy action against those responsible for the brutal incident.

They called it a test case of Karachi police and also described it as a reflection of fast deteriorating writ of the law enforcement agency in the city where the criminal activities have become norm of the society.

The two innocent telecom workers were ruthlessly killed by an unruly mob in Machhar Colony on Friday.

On Sunday, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the Machhar Colony incident was deplorable. Talking to reporters in Sehwan, he promised that murderers would be brought to justice.

Murad vows to bring killers to justice

SUP holds province-wide demos

The Sindh United Party (SUP) staged province-wide protest demonstrations against the incident.

In Karachi, scores of party workers gathered in front of the Karachi Press Club and demanded justice for the victims.

Carrying placards and posters, they demanded that the Sindh government give special attention for the speedy arrest and trial of the suspects.

“We demand a judicial inquiry [to be carried out by a judge of the] Sindh High Court,” Syed Zain Shah of the SUP said, adding: “This incident is against the humanity and demands extraordinary measures from the authorities. Any failure in this case would manifest the failure of the state.”

JSQM

The Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) also held protests in Mirpurkhas and Umerkot at the respective local press clubs against the gruesome killing.

Led by Wajid Leghari, Taj Joyo and Faqeer Yousuf Mangrio in Mirpurkhas, the protestors carrying banners and placards raised slogans against the Karachi police for its failure to arrest the culprits. They said they would not accept outsiders in Sindh and government should eject them from the province without any delay. They demanded the provincial government and IG Sindh to ensure arrest of the accused and punish them exemplary.

In Umerkot protest, the local JSQM leaders including Faisal Hingorjo, Sawai Mal, Mukesh Bajeer, Ghamshad Mari and Yaseen Mahar condemned the killers ‘who did not listen the appeal of dying labourers and stoned them to death’.

Similar kind of protests were held in other parts of the province including Hyderabad and Larkana.

MQM-P condemns lynching

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan also condemned the incident and demanded probe using all necessary technological support.

“The police have all due capacity and capability to identify each individual who was involved in the lynching,” the party’s coordination committee said in a statement.

“This incident has not just claimed two lives, but it has shattered the dreams of two families who have lost their breadwinners. The police need to fasten and complete the probe into this dual murder.”

JI calls for speedy justice

Jamaat-i-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman while condemning the incident called it fast deteriorating writ of the police and failure of law enforcement agency which allowed the miscreants to exploit the loopholes.

“The families of the two victims deserve speedy justice,” he said in a statement.“The incident in fact has exposed the loopholes in our criminal justice system and performance of the Karachi police.”

He added the Sindh government needs to focus more on maintenance of law and order and development of urban infrastructure instead of giving priority to its conventional political objectives.

Earlier on Saturday, Foreign Minister and Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had demanded his party’s government in Sindh to leave no stone unturned for the justice.

The other day, nationalist parties including the Awami Tehreek and the Sindh Taraqqi-Pasand Party also staged province-wide protest against the fateful incident.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2022