The fomenting ferment
All available evidence indicates that the shooting of nine passengers in a Karachi coach proceeding to Attock was not the outcome of a dacoity. The victims, five from Punjab and two from KP, were chosen clearly on the basis of ethnicity. What remains to be resolved is the motive behind the act at this particular time and the identity of the group responsible. Reportedly Sindhu Desh Liberation Army Front (SDLAF) has claimed responsibility for the action. The assailants avowedly announced after the firing that they had avenged the killing of JSMM leader Muzaffar Bhutto and others who they claimed have died either in custody or under mysterious circumstances. It has been claimed that in similar incidents a few days ago armed men set ablaze two Punjab-bound trawlers on the National Highway in which one driver died and the other suffered serious injuries.
In case the enquiry was to corroborate the claim by the SDLF, the powers that be would have to reconsider if picking up political workers and leaders, whose bodies are found subsequently dumped on roadside, is the best way to deal with dissidents or extremists. Earlier, complaints of the sort were confined to Balochistan. Now these are appearing in Sindh also. A widely respected rights organisation has verified at least 41 cases of forced disappearance in interior Sindh over the last year and half, out of which 26 people were traced or released while the rest still remain missing. The body of Muzaffar Bhutto who went missing in February 2011 was subsequently found near Hyderabad last week. Sindh is much more populous compared to Balochistan. In case revenge killings start, it would be difficult to bring the province under control.
Or were the killings the handiwork of some more devious force? The firing on a peaceful rally led by Awami Tehrik and Peoples Amn Committee and joined by representatives of PML(N) and Balochistan National Party had caused resentment all over the country. Could some of those under pressure have tried to divert the attention from them through this heinous act? The question is bound to be raised as no Sindhi extremist organisation has so far targeted Punjabi or Pashtun settlers.
