• Several protesters taken into custody at Teen Talwar freed after brief detention
• Child had gone missing from Sukkur three years ago while distributing free cold drinks at sabeel during Ashura

KARACHI: Police on Friday night allegedly resorted to baton charge to disperse civil society activists at Teen Talwar in Clifton, who were seeking recovery of seven-year-old Priya Kumari, who had gone missing in Sukkur three years ago.

Civil society members showed up in big numbers to protest the failure of the Sindh government and police in recovering Priya Kumari.

Three years ago the child went missing when she was serving free cold drinks at a sabeel on Ashura in Sangrar.

The protesters included representatives of NGOs, unions and groups such as the Pooj Hindu Panchayat Sukkur, Priya Kumari Bazyabi Committee, Women Democratic Front, Minority Rights March, Aurat March, All Lady Health Workers Program, etc.

Many of the protesters had travelled from various parts of Sindh to participate in the demonstration.

Luke Victor, one of the organisers of the protest, told Dawn that the police had resorted to baton charge to disperse the protesters, who included women, and took away around four to five protesters. He claimed that media persons were also beaten.

He also denied the police claim that they had blocked both tracks of main Clifton road. Instead, Mr Victor added that they staged a sit-in at the roundabout of Teen Talwar.

He said water cannons had also been called while a prison van had also arrived.

South-DIG Syed Asad Raza denied “lathi charge”. However, he said that the protesters had blocked the road, causing inconveniences to commuters. And they engaged the protesters to vacate the place.

Another officer, South-SSP Sajid Amir Sadozai, said that while ‘clearing’ the road, one or two people might have been detained.

He added that he was ‘verifying’ it as to whether any person had been detained. However, he also denied “lathi-charge”.

Later in the evening, all those who had been detained were freed, said a south zone police spokesperson.

Earlier at the demonstration, human rights activist and classical dancer Sheema Kermani told Dawn that they had been demanding the child be recovered for the past three years now.

“We want to know why the state authorities are not taking action? The question arises who is complicit in these abductions cases? Who will provide us with safety and security? Who do we turn to if the state is not fulfilling its responsibility? And how do the minority communities get their rights in this country? This is not the Pakistan that Mr Jinnah had promised us,” she said.

Dr Yasmin Kazi said that Priya Kumari’s case is a case of abuse of children and minority rights.

“This child, coming from a Hindu family, was doing a good deed for Muslims at a sabeel with her father. Can anyone imagine what her parents must be going through?” he asked.

Eye surgeon Dr Jaipal Chhabria said that Sukkur, from where the child disappeared, is a small city from where the authorities should have recovered the girl long ago.

“Just find a tough policeman, like Shoaib Suddle, who can stand up to all kinds of pressure, and I’m sure little Priya would be back home,” he said.

General Secretary of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Talib Kachchi, said that the government would have recovered Priya if they wanted to.

Laxman Singh, human rights activist from Umarkot, said that there were two Joint Inves­tigative Teams to look into the disappearance, but no JIT report was brought on record so far.

“There have only been rumours that the child is alive but nothing solid. That is because Priya is a daughter of common folk. Had she been associated with anyone powerful, a political will to recover her would have automatically been there,” he said.

Advocate Shiraz Khan questioned the actions of DIG Javed Jiskani, SSPs Tanvir Tunio and Anjad Shaikh under whom the second JIT was made. “Where are their findings?”

Mahesh Kumar from Kashmore said that there was a lack of political will in Priya Kumari’s case.

“This child was an example of interfaith harmony and no one sees that. This is what happened to her,” he regretted.

A student from Karachi University, Uzair Ahmed, said that there were over a hundred cases of forced conversions in Pakistan, which should be punishable by law.

“Laws should also be imposed and implemented and not just created to be forgotten about,” he said.

Pastor Ghazal Shafique reminded that Priya Kumari and her whereabouts have remained unknown since her abduction on August 19, 2021.

“From blaming Priya’s parents and harassing their relatives to making claims of the involvement of ‘gypsies’ in her disappearance, the officials of the government of Sindh and police have made the most outrageous of claims without having shown any concrete progress in tracing and recovering Priya,” she said.

A handout, distributed at the sit-in, read: “We are appalled by the callous statement given by DIG Pir Mohammad Shah, as reported by Dawn on May 31, 2024, that the Sindh police had allegedly found a concrete trace on Priya Kumari and that she would be reunited with her family “soon” — and a similar statement given by Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hasan Lanjhar on June 26, 2024, claiming that Priya’s whereabouts had been traced to Bahawalpur and that she was currently in the custody of gypsies; whereas, after a passage of more than a month, neither the DIG nor any other official has provided any concrete proof to back up their claim of having found Priya. Such callous statements are outrageous and tantamount to making a mockery of the misery and sentiments of the aggrieved parents and all those bearing concern about the fate of Priya.

“We demand the safe recovery of Priya Kumari without further delay and concrete action against all those involved in her abduction and continued illegal confinement. Any more empty claims and promises by the Sindh police and government shall be met with continued peaceful protests and legal recourse through the courts of law till Priya is recovered and reunited with her parents,” the handout concluded.

Protest in Larkana

Simultaneously, a similar protest, organised by the Pooj Hindu Panchayat, was also held in Larkana where members of civil society gathered outside the Dharmashala to observe a token hunger strike and sit-in.

The chairman of Pooj Hindu Panchayat, Haresh Lal; Vice Chairman Jay Raj and others at the sit-in expressed solidarity with the protesters by joining them.

M.B Kalhoro in Larkana also contributed to this story.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2024