Over fifty activists assembled under the umbrella organisation Awami Shehri Mahaz in front of the Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) Headquarters on Burki Road to protest the murder of Sarfaraz Shah by Rangers personnel in Karachi. The demonstrators declared the Pakistan Rangers complicit in the murder and said the inquiry into the killing must extend itself to the entire institution. The demostrators also condemned the Rangers role in Karachi, where it has been stationed for 17 years, and asked for an extensive inquiry into its operations within civilian localities, especially Karachi. The demostrators also condemned the Frontier Corps killing of unarmed Chechen civilians at Kharotabad and demanded the withdrawl of the Rangers from Karachi and the Frontier Corps from Balochistan.
The demonstrators chanted slogans condemning the Pakistan army for harbouring militants and targeting civilians. The demonstrators also condemned the Pakistan army for its lax and corrupt behaviour with their slogans.
The organisations represented in the protest included the Labour Party, the Workers Party, Awami Party Institute for Peace and Secular Studies & Human Rights Education and independent citizens.
The atmosphere of the protest was charged with protestors confronting policemen for carrying guns too close, condemned Rangers personnel trying to film the protest and punned at intelligence personnel reporting on the protest. Addressing the gathering, Advocate Rabia Bajwa said the people of Pakistan were fed up of the military that ruled them and they were now gathering to demand a change. She accused the military of grabbing public resources that had been developed with the blood and sweat of common Pakistanis and using them for private or, at best, institutional profit. Labour Party spokesperson Farooq Tariq demanded the withdrawal of the FC from Balochistan, an end to the systematic abduction, torture and murder of Baloch citizens and an end to military operations against the Baloch.
He further listed the military’s business ventures – from shoes to banking to insurance to real estate – alleging that it was these profit-making activities that was distracting the military from its core duties and causing it to lose credibility among the masses. He said that the time has now come when all Pakistani civilians had one clear desire – the military should return to the barracks and should be accountable to civilian power. Workers Party member Ali Jan brought some humour to the proceedings remarking that given the recent behaviour of the Rangers and we welcome the Punjab Police (surrounding the protest) sent by the government protect us from the Rangers. He further said that even if not by taking to the streets but in their minds all Pakistanis were that the military now needs to be made accountable to civilians.
Against Ranger’s brutality
