ISLAMABAD, Jan 5: A candlelight vigil was organised by a local NGO, on Saturday, near D-Chowk, for 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan, who was gunned down on December 25, 2012 in Karachi.

The furore caused by the incident led the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice, leading to the arrest of the culprits.

The vigil was largely attended by students, who vowed to bring change in the country through education.

Participants at the vigil thanked Chief Justice Supreme Court for taking suo moto notice and appreciated the role of the media for highlighting the issue, which led to the arrest of the four suspects involved in the heinous crime.

Mustafa Aziz, a friend of the deceased, Shahzeb Khan, said that on December 24, there was a wedding ceremony of Shahzeb’s elder sister.

After the ceremony, late at night (December 25), servant of Siraj Talpur misbehaved with the sister who at the time was sitting in a car.

Shahzeb reacted and slapped the servant due to which Siraj Talpur reached the spot and sided with his servant demanding that his servant should have the right to “slap back”.

“Shahzeb’s father reached the spot and tried to resolve the issue but Siraj Talpur refused to have any settlement and threatened that he will take revenge. At 2:45am while Shahzeb was going back to his house, Siraj Talpur and his friends chased and shot Shahzeb, who died on the spot,” he said.

“Shahzeb was a student of B.Com and was the only son of his parents. We have gathered here to demand that the accused be punished and made an example of, so that such incidents are not repeated in the future,” he said.

The vigil was organised by a non government organisation (NGO) ‘federal organisation of youth’, to show solidarity with the family of Shahzeb Khan.

Moiz Mohsin, student of Mechanical Engineering in Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology said that he and his friends invited people through Facebook and they got a positive response.

“In the past, feudals used to kill people and were never brought to justice but now things are different and the new generation will always stand up against the outdated concept ‘might is right’,” he said.

Taimoor Khan, student of engineering in Indus College Rawalpindi said that because of the suo moto notice of the Supreme Court, four suspects were arrested on Saturday and hopefully another suspect, Shahrukh Jatoi, who had fled the country, will be brought back.

Ayaz Ali Shah, studying commerce, while talking to Dawn said that the incident happened because of ‘feudal mindset’ and we have to change the mindset through education.

“The new generation wants to ensure that in the future no one would be killed just because of his weak family background,” he said.

Participants of the vigil chanted slogans against the incident and dispersed peacefully after praying for the deceased Shahzeb Khan.