SUKKUR: Several thousand people belonging to many political and religious parties as well as nationalist groups and civil society organisations on Thursday joined in the ongoing campaign against the Jacobabad police for their indifference towards citizen’s safety and security. Activists and supporters of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto, Sindh United Party, Qaumi Awami Tehreek, Awami Tehreek, Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and other entities proceeded to Thull town from various districts to join the protest, continuing at a camp for the last 15 days.

The camp was set up at Rehbar Chowk by the bereaved family of a mobile phones vendor, Hafiz Moazzam Noonari, who was shot dead by criminals at his shop in Moosa Allahabad Shakh (irrigation channel) locality. The protest took the shape of a sustained campaign against police after the bereaved family was not extended any help or cooperation from the A-Section police station in the arrest of Hafiz Noonari’s killers.

Mumtaz Noonari, brother of the deceased vendor, spoke to the media along with his relative Rahim Noonari and senior activists of various parties and groups including Jamal Josh Burriro, Sarwan Lashari, Advocate Roshan Karnani, Waseem Qureshi, Maulvi Mir Hasan Burriro, Bashir Banglani, Zafar Lashari, Mohammad Bakhsh Brohi, Huzoor Bakhsh Noonari and Niaz Lashari. They condemned the Jacobabad police for failing to control crime and in this particular case, could not find a clue to the killers of Hafiz Noonari even 15 days after his murder.

They said the people sheltering the killers seemed to be influential as the family and other protesters were being threatened with dire consequences for resorting to continuing the campaign.

They believed that these influential people were patrons of extortionists, and recalled that a youth, Qaimuddin Sarki, was also killed for refusing to pay protection money in the town some time ago.

The leaders vowed to continue the protest campaign until arrest of Hafiz Noonari’s killers. In the next phase, they warned, they would proceed to the office of the Larkana DIG and block the nearby section of the highway.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2023