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MYSTERY continues to shroud the sudden death of professor and activist leader Arman Loni in Loralai on Saturday.
Family and friends of the deceased allege that the police were responsible for killing Loni during a crackdown on a days-long sit-in, yet the police claim that a postmortem revealed no signs of injury. Days later, there is still no clarity on the circumstances of his death — which is threatening to stoke an already contentious issue.
Context is key. Against a backdrop in which several high-profile extrajudicial killings have cast a sustained spotlight on excessive force by state authorities, the risk of tensions spiralling out of control is high. Monday’s strike in several areas across Balochistan — with its widespread support from political parties across ethnic lines and sections of society including traders and lawyers — is indicative of Loni’s popular standing in civil society as well as how widespread the public disaffection is. The provincial chief minister took notice of Loni’s death the very next day, perhaps in recognition of these delicate sociopolitical implications.
Concurrently, in the wake of a brutal attack on the DIG police complex in Loralai last week, vigilance on the part of law enforcement and the provincial government is understandably necessary.
Also read: Extrajudicial killings
However, in question here is not only the issue of whether or not Arman Loni was indeed a victim of police brutality, but the very nature of ‘vigilance’ being distorted by public servants to evade accountability and justify curtailing people’s rights. Paranoid, overreaching measures taken in the interest of ‘maintaining public order’ are counterproductive. Thus, statements by the provincial home minister seeking to blame those who contest the official version of events (as it currently stands) while in the same breath promising a fair investigation will hardly serve to dispel such perceptions.
Loni’s death demands an unbiased and transparent probe. But it also requires that the provincial and federal governments be responsive to the public’s mood and work to de-escalate a potentially volatile situation.
Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2019
Comments (9) Closed
There is no doubt who eliminated him. It is bad that even learned professor was not spared and thousands has already disappeared and not a single person punished.
At last it published ;)
Well done! Dawn. Very unbiased news media. Most of the Pakistani media channels refrain from discussing the background and implications of Arman Loni killing.
Police reforms need urgent attention of the government of the country. The federation is responsible for making and implementation of such reforms which must be enforced all through the country without any exceptions. The existing police personnel should be subjected to a thorough investigation process to ensure that they are cleared of any political or other groups' backings and/or inferences in the future. As for any wrong doers from the past, they should not be excused from the crimes committed by them in the past, but should be awarded exemplary punishments for any crimes done.
@SHAHID SATTAR, "Police reforms need urgent attention of the government of the country."
He may have been killed by the police but the instructions probably came from elsewhere.
@SHAHID SATTAR, already said that many times.
Sad to hear these type of incident. I hope PTM gets a better treatment from the authority.
We must punish the responsible party, in order to make any sense out of this.
Pakistani nation I would say I subcontinent there is problem of not reading and listening to authorities, if you see you tube you will find out easily despite of authorities decline to give a group of people or a person authority to pass they start hurdling and bieng very physical with authority I acknowledge the patience of the authority in many cases where they resist to act so first we as a nation needs to learn are we going to act like a bunch of animal who like to do things by force or we like to think and want some sort of mechanism to be establish in this country so everyone behave