THE recent incident in Sakrand serves as a grim reminder of the increasing lawlessness. The said incident resulted in the death of four villagers and injuries to five innocent peasants, including women, at the hands of law-enforcement agencies.

According to the official account, the said operation had been launched on the basis of intelligence tipoff related to some high-value targets moving

with bomb-grade material in possession. However, the question is: if these individuals possessed bombs, would they have not made use of them before being killed?

If they were criminals, they should have been arrested by the police, brought to court, and subjected to the legal process, rather than being killed in such a manner.

This was not only violation of the country’s Constitution, but also against the basic principles of human rights.

Moreover, the involvement of women raises additional concerns, as they were clearly not criminals; they were innocent bystanders. Even more heart-wrenching is the fact that three sons of a mother were among the victims, leaving her to bear the immense grief of losing all three of her sons in one tragic incident.

While an FIR has been filed against 40 unidentified suspects, it appears futile as there were no unidentified suspects involved. The innocent villagers were killed in broad daylight by law-enforcement contingent, and the FIR is registered against unidentified individuals, raising some serious questions.

The government must take immediate and efficient action against such brutality inflicted upon impoverished villagers. It is imperative to set up a transparent committee to thoroughly investigate the case and bring to book those responsible for this criminal act.

G. Akbar Palijo
Larkana

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2023