"First, they shouted 'Allah Akbar' and then immediately started beating me with clubs," said senior journalist Zulfiqar Wahocho as he pulled back his shirt to reveal the marks where police batons crashed down on his body. Wahocho was among the journalists and protesters who were assaulted by the police during the Sindh Rawadari protest outside the Karachi Press Club on Sunday afternoon, which called for peace and condemned the rise of extremism in the province.
Wahocho lamented that Sindh, once a bastion of religious tolerance, has seen the rise of extremist elements recently. However, he said the most surprising aspect was that the government and law enforcement agencies took the law into their own hands.
"During dictatorships, law enforcement agencies had the audacity to brutally torture journalists like this. Unfortunately, this (police baton charge on journalists) has happened under the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government," he commented.
On Sunday, October 13, rights activists and people from different walks of life including lawyers, writers, intellectuals, climate activists, and even musicians, from across Sindh gathered in Karachi. They intended to protest the recent rise in extremism in the province, in particular the allegations of blasphemy against Dr Shah Nawaz Kunbhar in Umerkot and his subsequent extrajudicial murder allegedly in a fake encounter staged by the police. Despite the government's efforts to thwart the protest by setting up obstacles, a large number of activists managed to reach the Karachi Press Club (KPC) at 4:30 pm on Sunday afternoon to stage their 'Sindh Rawadari March' (Sindh Peace Solidarity March). However, a heavy contingent of police, decked in riot gear, confronted the peace protesters outside the Press Club. Protests in the city had been banned after the government had imposed restrictions on public gatherings under Section 144. Under the garb of enforcing the law, the police launched into the crowd. They fired tear gas and resorted to baton charges before dragging away several protesters, including women, to waiting police vans.
Several witnesses, including Wahocho, claimed that the police allegedly began their crackdown at the Karachi Press Club by first raising religious slogans. He further claimed that some individuals in uniform and some not in uniform (plain-clothed police officers) joined in while chanting slogans when members of the civil society arrived at the press club.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Vice-Chairperson for Sindh, Qazi Khizer, suggested that some individuals in uniform appeared to act per some fanatical tendencies.
"I felt a chill in my bones, remembering the fate of Dr Shah Nawaz Kunbhar," he said, adding, "First, they killed Dr Kunbhar in a staged encounter, and now they are brutally torturing civil society activists, even journalists covering the march against growing extremism in Sindh."
He further recounted that a police inspector, who was later suspended by the provincial police leadership, had warned the protesters by saying: "Now I will teach you a lesson."
Khizer claimed that an officer (of inspector rank) then allegedly took a gun from his subordinate and began verbally abusing protesters while brandishing the naked weapon.
Another senior journalist, Shukat Korai, claimed that a policeman warned him: "If I had a gun I would have shot you."
However, Khizer clarified that the entire police force should not be considered to have been radicalised due to the actions of a few individuals, adding, "The Sindh police leadership must conduct psychological tests on the force to prevent incidents like Dr Shah Nawaz Kunbhar's [extrajudicial] killing from happening again."
"This is an alarming situation. How is it possible that senior police officers killed Dr Shah Nawaz without giving him a fair trial?" he asked. "If they take the law into their own hands, how will they protect the people? Their responsibility is to arrest the culprits and present them before the courts."
After Sunday's incident, many activists and journalists were arrested for violating Section 144 but were later released after they were booked. The incident, however, has left a significant mark on the PPP government, which has always projected itself as religiously inclusive and secular.
Professor and columnist, Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan remarked that the area around the Press Club resembled a war zone on Sunday evening.
"In my experience, I have never witnessed such a heavy presence of law enforcement agencies around the Karachi Press Club, with containers and vehicles placed to block activists from staging a peaceful demonstration."
He further said that the killing of Dr Shah Nawaz Kunbhar was unprecedented, with senior police officials involved in this extrajudicial killing. These officials were later welcomed by religious extremists, who showered them with rose petals and garlanded them. In the aftermath of Dr Kunbhar's extrajudicial murder, Dr Tauseef suggested the Sindh government should have taken strict action against those involved.
TLP rally clashes with police
It may be noted that during separate rallies on Sunday, a man was killed, and several others were injured when activists of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) clashed with police in their attempt to reach Karachi Press Club. Police had already rounded up several civil society activists at the press club prior to the arrival of the TLP rally.
To prevent a potential law-and-order situation from developing, the government imposed a complete ban on all rallies, sit-ins, and protests in the city under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code on Saturday.
A police officer deputed on duty near KPC stated: "If the TLP activists had reached the KPC, there was a high chance of clashes erupting between both groups, which is why the police tried to break up the rallies and enforce Section 144."
It is worth noting that TLP announced its march after civil society disclosed plans for a march. The group deliberately chose the same route, from Teen Talwar to the Karachi Press Club, to express their support for law enforcement personnel involved in the staged encounter with Dr Kunbhar.
After their clashes with the police, TLP spokesperson Rehan Mohammed Khan told the media that their worker, Mohammed Majid Aziz, had been killed by police. Even though TLP was marching in support of the provincial police department, Rehan claimed police opened "direct fire" on "unarmed" protesters.
However, Karachi South District DIG Syed Asad Raza countered the TLP's claim, stating that the TLP activist was killed by "his own people" who fired on law enforcers first.
Freedom of peaceful assembly being trampled
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called on the Sindh government to immediately investigate the violent treatment meted out to activists who participated in Sunday's Sindh Rawadari March in Karachi.
In a statement issued by HRCP on Monday, it said Sindh police had arrested scores of protestors — including HRCP Sindh vice-chair Qazi Khizer Habib — and numerous others, including women, while police also physically assaulted peaceful protesters.
Although those arrested were released soon after, HRCP believes that the imposition of Section 144 in Karachi was unnecessary in the first instance.
"The Sindh Rawadari March was intended as a peaceful demonstration calling for justice for Dr Shahn Nwaz Kunbher, who was accused of blasphemy and subsequently shot dead by a police officer," the commission said, adding, "The march had brought together progressive voices from across Sindh and should have received the full support of any government claiming to hold progressive, democratic credentials."
Instead, it said an FIR had been lodged against several protestors, including those who were subjected to violence by the police.
"This (FIR) must be withdrawn immediately."
HRCP, however, conceded that a counter-protest by the far-right TLP may have rightly stoked fears of a clash, given the TLP’s violent history and its extremist position on blasphemy. However, HRCP asserted that this was not a license to assault protesters participating in the Sindh Rawadari March.
The Karachi police, it offered, should have been prepared to protect peaceful marchers had the TLP resorted to violence against the latter.
"Although the right to freedom of peaceful assembly is enshrined in the Constitution, it has been consistently violated by the state in the last several years," the commission said, adding, Section 144 continues to be applied arbitrarily, especially against peaceful rights-based assemblies. The federal and provincial governments must understand that they are the custodians of this right and as such, legally obligated to protect and promote freedom of peaceful assembly.