The murder of two Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) office-bearers – famous environmentalist and fisherman Abdul Ghani, who was struggling against mangrove cutting and illegal constructions at the city’s beaches, and Haji Abu Bakar has enraged fisherfolk and shocked nature conservationists. Ghani was kidnapped from his house located in the Kakapir village near the Hawkesbay area of Sandspit along with another Abu Bakar late Thursday night. Their bodies were found near Shams Island on Friday morning.
According to witnesses, Ghani and Bakar were dumped in the sea after being brutally tortured. The news of the murders of these renowned activists spread like wildfire and hundreds of fisherfolk from Kakapir village, Salehabad and several other fishermen settlements took to the streets and staged a sit-in at the ICI Bridge on the Mauripur Road.
Due to the protest being staged at one of the main arteries of the city, vehicular movement was suspended and a large number of trucks, trailers and other goods carrying vehicles from the Karachi Port were unable to move. The protest lasted almost the entire day. The demonstrators demanded registering an FIR against the culprits. In the evening, the police registered FIR No 93/2011 against former Keamari Town naib nazim Zulfiqar Younus and his father Haji Younus, who hold a lot of influence in the Kakapir village.
“Haji Younus and his son had been threatening Ghani and other activists for their efforts against mangrove cutting and land grabbing along the coast. Both these men opened fire at Ghani’s house on Thursday afternoon, killing a villager, Moosa Ismail. Later that night, they kidnapped Ghani and Bakar,” Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF)’s Sami Memon said.
Ghani was a former union councillor and PFF-Karachi secretary general, running a small non-governmental organisation in the area; whereas Bakar was PFF-Kakapir Unit president. Memon said that besides Karachi, fishermen in Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Sanghar, Qambar, Kashmore and Sukkur also protested the murders. “Though Ghani had been receiving threats for a long time, he had organised a colourful event to mark the PFF’s 13th Foundation Day on Thursday,” he added.
He said that the police was informed about the threats, but no action was taken in this regard. Moreover, according to a local villager, Keamari Town SHO was aiding the culprits who had attacked Ghani’s house, he added. “Another PFF activist from the same village, Ejaz Haji Siddique, is still missing. He was kidnapped with the other activists,” Memon said. PFF Chairman Muhammad Ali Shah, who was leading the protest on the Mauripur Road, said that if the police failed to arrest the culprits, a large rally would be organised and the participants would march towards the Chief Minister’s House to lodge their protest.
The PFF had launched a campaign against the land mafia to protect the mangroves on the entire coast, particularly near the Kakapir village. In this regard, the PFF has already written letters to higher authorities, staged protest rallies and hunger strikes, and a march from the Kakapir village to the Karachi Press Club.
The protesters had staged a sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly where Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza assured them on behalf of the provincial government to resolve the issue and take action against Haji Younus and Zulfiqar Younus.
