HYDERABAD: Rights activists on Sunday staged a demonstration outside the local press club in protest against the murder of a nationalist activist and teacher, Hidayat Lohar.

The demo was staged under the aegis of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Sindh Sujagi Forum.

HRCP representative Prof Imdad Chandio said Hidayat Lohar was an educated soul and a political activist. He said that he had remained missing since 2015 for two years and his family members kept protesting for his release. He remained detained for two years before being released, he added.

Mr Chandio said that he was now murdered in cold blood. He maintained that his family members were protesting for having a murder FIR registered. The heirs wanted arrests of the culprits involved in the killing. He added that it was a tyranny that had attained alarming proportions.

Prof Mushtaq Mirani said his murder showed that one could be punished for raising voice for his nation. He said that if FIR was not lodged for his murder, it would be violation of the law and constitution.

Sindh Sujagi Forum leader Mohib Azad Leghari said FIR should be lodged on the complaint of the heirs of Hidayat Lohar. He said that nowhere in the world the murder FIR was lodged by the state instead of the heirs of the victim. He informed that the heirs had the legal right to register their case against the nominated accused as per Article 9 of the constitution.

Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (Arisar) leader Abdul Fatah Channa, Saleem Jarwar, Inderjeet Lohano, Ghufrana Arain, Humera Arisar, Amjad Rind and others said that a CCTV footage of the murderers had been obtained, but still assailants were not being booked and arrested.

They regretted that the heirs were being denied their right to lodge FIR against the accused. They said efforts were made to prevent the heirs from holding protest.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2024