Representatives of all political parties under the umbrella of All Parties Conference (APC), convened by Joint Action Committee (JAC), have thrown their weight behind Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) activists seeking justice for the families of two of their comrades who had been murdered allegedly because of their struggle to protect mangrove plantations along the coast. One of the two deceased, PFF-Karachi Secretary Abdul Ghani Mujahid, was also operating a school in the Kakapir Village. Mujahid’s school provided free education for the children of the area. The other, Haji Abu Baqar, was the PFF president for Kakapir Village. Following their murder, a petition was filed in the Sindh High Court against mangrove-felling and land filling in the area, with a local influential and Environment Department official listed as the respondent.
Fisherfolk leaders set the tone at Thursday’s meeting that the activists’ murders should be seen as an open threat to the agents of change, halting efforts to protect mangroves and promote education in the area. Subsequently, a number of political parties pledged their support to the struggle. Those in attendance included Workers Party Pakistan’s (WPP) Yusuf Mastikhan, Jeay Sindh Mahaz’s Ghayas Chandio and Abdul Khaliq Junejo, Manzoor Badayuni from the Pakistan People’s Party, Shah Mohammad Shah of the Sindh United Party; Jamaat-e-Islami’s Mohammad Hussain Mehenti and Muslim Pervez, Awami Jamhoori Party’s Hanif Chandio, PPP-Shaheed Bhutto’s Abdul Qayum, Pakistan Awami Party’s Ghayasuddin, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Ateeq Qureshi, and Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) Jam Saqi represented the civil society.
A committee was also constituted to draw up a course of action to support the ongoing struggles of workers from the Karachi Electric Supply Company and Pakistan Railways. WPP’s Yusuf Mastikhan will head the committee while PFF President Mohammad Ali Shah will be part of it. It was decided to convene a meeting on June 13 in Kakapir Village to devise a course of action. A sit-in has also been planned for June 20 outside the Chief Minister’s House.
JAC Focal Person Mir Zulfiqar shared the details of the struggle against mangrove cutting and deforestation in the name of development. He claimed that the slain PFF activists were struggling against influential landlords of the area, who enjoy the patronage of a section of the current ruling party.
Zulfiqar claimed that two men – Haji Yunus and his son Zulfiqar Yunus – have been nominated for the murder of the two activists, but the reluctance and dillydallying of the police to register a case, the “manipulation” of the post-mortem report, as well as the investigation process allowed impunity to the accused; both suspects have already secured bail before arrest. He claimed that intense political pressure continues to thwart efforts to get justice for the murdered activists and address the insecurities of the victims’ families and fisherfolk activists.
Civil society members representing the JAC emphasised that the involvement of political parties is extremely important, not only to increase pressure on the officials concerned but also because public representatives have a stake in as well as the responsibility to protect the interests of the people. “The issue of deforestation has serious consequences, and political parties must take a position to stop this open threat to the environment as well as the livelihoods of the local fishermen,” speakers emphasised.
Many also urged political parties to take decisive steps against criminal elements within their ranks, regretting that apart from governance breakdown, the poor state of law and order has compromised the security and wellbeing of the people of the country. “Unless committed political workers and civil society members take a strong stand against these elements and push their leadership to hold them accountable, the spate of killings and injustices shall continue.”
Apart from the government, security forces and the justice machinery also came under heavy criticism for their inefficiency, corruption as well as for failure to take note of the concerns of the common folk. “It is important to reform the criminal justice system that allows ample space to the powerful elite to manipulate the inquiry procedures to win impunity for those they protect. The Supreme Court too needs to take note of the issues of environmental degradation, as well as the threats to the lives of activists involved in environmental protection issues since they stand against powerful mafia.”
PFF President Mohammad Ali Shah highlighted the tough conditions that the fisherfolk activists had to face in their battle against the land grabbing mafia. “The murder has followed a spate of attempts at harassment, ransacking and occupation of our offices, and open threats to the lives of those involved in our struggle. The responsibility for these murders lies not only with the perpetrators, but also with political forces that covertly or overtly support these elements.”
