KARACHI: Despite the lapse of a decade, the family of slain Karachi University Professor Dr Shakil Auj still awaits justice as the trial remains inconclusive because the culprits are still untraceable.

On Sept 18, 2014 armed men gunned down Prof Auj, 54, the dean of the faculty of Islamic Studies at the University of Karachi, near the Nipa bridge in Gulshan-i-Iqbal when he, along with a colleague and a student, was on his way to attend a ceremony at the Iranian Culture Centre in Clifton.

It was around 10:15am on that day, when Dr Hassan Auj’s phone rang.

The elder son of the slain professor said that he was busy attending to a patient and when he answered the call. The person at the other end informed him about the tragic news. “When I reached the hospital, I learnt that my father had passed away,” Dr Hassan told Dawn.

Son vows to move SHC for fresh investigation into Prof Shakil Auj’s murder

He lamented that 10 years had passed, yet the state had failed to apprehend the “real culprits” in this case despite the fact that the banned Al Qaeda In Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) had claimed responsibility.

The case files remain dormant, gathering dust in the shelves after the acquittal of two men — Mohammad Mansoor and Ehtasham — said to be associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

“I just want it to be proven that religious extremists were involved in this murder because certain religious figures troubled my father during his life through their fatwas,” Dr Hassan added.

While the murder took place in 2014, the AQIS had released a video in 2015 in which it’s the then chief, Asim Umar, had claimed responsibility for the murder of Prof Auj and other prominent personalities in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

Dr Hassan told Dawn that before being murdered his father had named certain individuals who had extended threats to him.

He said that he had also named them and the AQIS in his statement before the court because the militant organisation had “accepted” responsibility in a video and a written statement.

“A few days after my statement was recorded in court, an SP-rank office, who was a close friend of my father, told me that they had caught my father’s real murderers, who had connections with Al Qaeda,” Dr Hassan claimed.

“But, the SP told me that they couldn’t nominate them in the murder case because the charge sheet had already been submitted against MQM members,” he said and added that the officer had told him that if the police charged the Al Qaeda suspects, it could cause complications to the case against the MQM men.

He said that he was divulging this because those MQM members charged with the murder had already been acquitted.

“I showed the IO a video where Al Qaeda accepted responsibility, but he dismissed it, saying anyone could make such a video,” Dr Hassan said.

Speaking with Dawn, Sindh Prosecutor General Dr Faiz Shah said that he would write a letter to the SSP-Investigation concerned regarding the case.

“This was a high-profile case that likely had multiple layers. It should have been investigated by the CID or a joint investigation team. This was not a task for a DSP-level officer, which is why the case was not thoroughly investigated,” a source told Dawn.

The sources said that the state had decided not to challenge the acquittal of the two suspects before the high court as there was “no substantial evidence against them”.

Dr Hassan, the source said, did not file any application for re-investigation.

Responding to this, Dr Hassan said, “I wasn’t mentally stable at that time, and my family and friends discouraged me from pursuing the case legally.”

He also claimed that a senior professor at the KU told him that if he pursued the case, his job at the university would not be permanent, as he had been hired under the son quota.

However, Dr Hassan said that he would soon approach the Sindh High Court for the fresh investigation into the case.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2024