Killing of JSQM man sparks protests

By Tahir Siddiqui

A large number of people gather on New Pul, Hyderabad during a demonstration in reaction to firing on Jiye Sindh Qaumi Mahaz Leader Bashir Khan Qureshi in Karachi.—ONLINE
KARACHI: The Thatta district chief of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and a suspected attacker were killed on Friday afternoon in an attack on the car of the party’s central chairman, Bashir Khan Qureshi, near Race Course Ground in the remit of the Malir Cantt police station, witnesses and police said.
They said that the party chief, who was sitting in the front seat of his golden Toyota Saloon (AQC-681), however, remained unhurt and Mushtaq Ahmed Khaskheli was killed instantly when at around 4.50pm four attackers on two motorcycles sprayed them with volleys of bullets fired by AK-47 (Kalashnikov) rifles and pistols.
They said that the JSQM leaders and workers in 10 cars and a dozen buses, led by their chief, were on their way to join a rally on the Superhighway against the killing of a party worker, Zulfiqar Mallah, on July 15 at Sikandar Goth, and the police failure to arrest the suspects named in the FIR.
The witnesses said that one of the attackers was killed and the other wounded when Mr Qureshi’s guards in another vehicle returned fire. They said that that the two other attackers rode away amid heavy fire when they saw two of their accomplices having been hit and overpowered.
Waqas Memon, the finance secretary of the Jeay Sindh Student Federation, who was in one of the vehicles in the convoy, said that two attackers on a motorcycle overtook the party chairman’s car and the pillion rider, armed with an AK-47 rifle, fired a burst of bullets at the car from the left side.
‘The guards on a vehicle behind the chairman’s car retaliated and hit the two attackers,’ he said, adding that one of the attackers received bullet wounds and died on the spot, while the other was wounded after he was beaten up by the party men.
He said that the party workers recovered the identity cards of the attackers which showed they were sub-inspectors in an intelligence agency.
He said that the JSQM chief, who later held a press conference at a party office in Sachal Goth, also distributed the photocopies of the attackers’ identity cards among the newsmen.
The killed suspect was identified as Syed Mustafa Zahid alias Taifi Bhai and the wounded suspect as Zulfiqar.
Sub-Inspector Mohammed Sultan of the Malir Cantt police told Dawn that the wounded man earlier identified himself as Ijaz, then he told the police his names as Rehan, Javed and Zulfiqar. He said that the identity cards of the suspects were taken away by the JSQM workers.
The wounded suspect and the bodies of the slain JSQM leader and the suspected attacker were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Hospital sources said that the JSQM leader was hit by two bullets in his left hand and the abdomen.
They said that the killed suspect was hit by at least eight bullets and the wounded suspect by three bullets. The sources said that the wounded suspect was out of danger.
The attack on the JSQM leaders triggered a violent protest in different parts of the city where enraged party men burnt old tyres, pelted vehicular traffic with stones and forced the shopkeepers to pull down the shutters.Traffic remained suspended on the National Highway for well over two hours as protesters staged a sit-in near Gulshan-i-Hadeed.
Parts of Malir and its outskirts echoed with heavy gunfire as the protesters resorted to firing into the air.Two people were shot and wounded in the remit of the Steel Town police station.Identified as Umer Daraz and Kabir, the wounded were brought to the JPMC where the sources said that both the victims were in a stable condition.
Tension and panic gripped parts of Gulshan-i-Hadeed when a mob forced the shopkeepers to close their businesses.
Meanwhile, the Malir Cantt police registered a case against the two attackers and their unidentified accomplices on the complaint of Naeem Mandero, the JSQM central cultural secretary, who was also sitting with Mushtaq Khaskheli in the rear seat at the time of the attack.
DAWN: Saturday, 25 Jul, 2009

Attack on JSQM rally triggers violent protests
HYDERABAD: Enraged workers of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz set ablaze six vehicles and damaged several cars in Hyderabad and forced shopkeepers to pull down shutters in many parts of the province in the wake of death of a colleague in attack on a JSQM rally in Karachi on Friday.
The party activists and workers of other nationalist parties took to the streets, held demonstrations and staged sit-ins on roads across the province.
In Hyderabad, an official car of the district naib nazim Zafar Rajput was fired upon, a bus of Lakhra power house was completely burnt and several private cars were damaged by rampaging mobs. Police have arrested a JSQM activist.
The activists blocked the bypass by staging a sit-in but perhaps unlikely rains forced them to end their protest prematurely before arrival of a heavy contingent of police. Till then the protesters had pelted many buses and vehicles with stones.
Shops in Tandojam and Hyderabad rural taluka were closed and JSQM activists blocked Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas road.In Thatta, the activists blocked the National Highway.Mushtaq Khaskheli, the JSQM worker who was killed in attack was president of the Thatta chapter of the party.
Leaders of nationalist parties have condemned the attack in no uncertain terms.Sindh Taraqi Passand Party chairman Dr Qadir Magsi and others termed the attack a barbaric act and saw it as a conspiracy against Sindh.
He said that murder of two STP workers in Karachi and one SUP worker in Jamshoro and now firing on JSQM rally proved that the enemies of Sindh considered nationalist forces as an impediment to their nefarious designs.
He said that the enemies were trying to divide Sindh and called upon people to unite on one platform to foil their conspiracies.Mr Magsi announced full support to the call for strike given by JSQM and said his party would observe seven days of mourning.He demanded high level inquiry into the firing incident.
Sindh United Party chief Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah said that it was an attempt by the government to crush the nationalist movement and supported the call for strike.JSM leader Riaz Chandio termed the attack a conspiracy against the nationalist forces.
Dozens of JSQM activists took to the streets in Thatta and blocked the National Highway by torching tyres and pelting passing vehicles with stones.Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro, Mirpur Sakro, Jati, Chuhar Jamali and Gharo also saw similar protests.
In Khairpur, Nawabshah, Sukkur, Rohri, Pano Akil, Ghotki, Mirpur Mathelo, Ubauro, Daharki, Thull, Tangwani, Kandhkot, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Shikarpur and Larkana JSQM activists took out processions and set ablaze tyres on the roads.
The protesters condemned the attack and demanded action against the culprits involved in the incident.They alleged that some forces were trying to frustrate nationalist parties’ attempts to unite on one platform and appealed to Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of targeted killings.
Qadir Bakhsh Bhatti, acting president of Larkana District Bar Association, said the lawyers would boycott court proceedings in Larkana on Saturday in solidarity with JSQM’s call for strike.
Dawn Report ;Saturday, 25 Jul, 2009

Two dead in attack on JSQM rally

KARACHI - Riots in the metropolis as well as in other major cities of the Sindh province in protest over the killing of President of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), Thatta chapter, during indiscriminate firing on a party rally at Pehlwan Goth here on Friday.
As per report, two unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on the rally at Pehlwan Goth near Gulistan Coach bus stop, within the limits of Malir Cantt Police Station, killing JSQM Thatta President Mushtaq Khaskheli and injuring another person, Ejaz.
The JSQM activists also retaliated and killed one of the attacker identified as Mustafa Zahid Baloch, and injured his accomplice, who was later arrested by police. The dead bodies and injured were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
It may be noted that JSQM activists organised the rally and wanted to stage a sit-in demonstration at the Super Highway, Toll Plaza in protest against the killing of their party worker Zulfiqar Mallah, who was gunned down on 19th July by unidentified suspects at Hango Goth.
JSQM Chairman Bashir Khan Qureshi and Dr Safadar Sarki were leading the rally. As the participants of the rally started their march and reached near Gulistan Coach bus stand, two unidentified suspects, riding a motorcycle, opened indiscriminate fire on the car of Bashir Qurashi with sophisticated weapons.
JSQM General Secretary Dr. Safdar Sarki has confirmed the attackers wanted to kill Bashir Qureshi but he managed to escape narrowly. Sarki alleged the attackers belonged to intelligence agencies and wanted to sabotage JSQM struggle for the people of Sindh.
The Nation:July 25, 2009