HYDERABAD: The four-day sit-in at the Qazi Ahmed section of the National Highway ended peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday when the Bhand community and Zardari clansmen agreed on the terms of a compromise regarding the Feb 12 killing of six persons, five of them belonging to the Bhand community. An FIR against the suspects nominated by the community was registered and the dead were taken away for burial.

The attack, blamed on Zardari clansmen, was motivated by a dispute between the two sides over a 390-acre piece of land in the riverine area of Shaheed Benazirabad district.

Soon after the incident, members of the Bhand community supported by Sindh United Party and other opposition entities including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Qaumi Awami Tehreek, Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party and Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, held a sit-in blocking the highway. The Bhands also refused to bury their dead until all those involved in the killing were booked and arrested. They had named Pakistan Peoples Party MPA from Thatta, Haji Ali Hassan Zardari, among the prime suspects.

PPP leaders including former provincial law minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar and MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio held negotiations with the protesters, led by Khamiso Bhand and supported by SUP’s Syed Zain Shah, in the presence of Deputy Commissioner Amir Panhwar and SSP Amir Saud Magsi.

FIR against 17 suspects, including Zardari clansmen, registered

The FIR was registered under sections 302, 324, 147, 148, 149 of the PPC against 17 suspects at the Mirzapur police station. Mohsin Zardari, Abid Zardari and Shahzado Zardari were nominated as prime suspects in the FIR registered vide crime No.1/22. The bereaved family agreed not to include the name of MPA Haji Ali Hassan Zardari in their FIR.

The Zardari side is said to have pledged in writing that they will not make any sale/purchase of the land in this area. Papers of 154 acres, out of the 390-acre land, have been handed over to the Bhand community. And a statement has been signed by the Zardaris that they are withdrawing for any sale/purchase of the 154-acre land. The remaining land is said to be a natural pond or freshwater lake within the riverine area.

According to Khamiso Khan Bhand, this 154-acre land will remain under water while the rest of the land will be used by communities, including Bhand, Mahar and Sangra, whose members have been cultivating them for years. He said that the entire 390 acres of land was resumed during land reforms introduced in the Ayub Khan era and later small pieces were allotted to his and other communities. But Zardaris led by Mohsin and Abid produced a paper of registry from the revenue department to claim its ownership which was absolutely false because the land once resumed was “allotted” and not “registered”, he argued.

Meanwhile, a civil judge and judicial magistrate issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) for the arrest of Mohsin Zardari and Shahzado Zardari after they did not appear in court on Tuesday. The hearing of the same land case was earlier fixed for the day.

The land is located in deh Bhambhaee of Qazi Ahmed taluka.

In the Feb 12 attack, five members of the Bhand community – Ayaz, Mashooq, Saban, Akmal and Sher Mohammad – and a police inspector, Hameed Khoso, were gunned down allegedly by Zardari clansmen.

The slain villagers were laid to rest in their ancestral Ameer Shah graveyard of Ismail Bhand village located within the riverine area. A pall of gloom hung over the village when the bodies were taken to the graveyard.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2022