Kandhkot protest by the local Hindus has been brutally dealt with by the Sindh Police which is backed by the Paki ‘establishment’, injuring many protestors demanding the release of individuals abducted by the dacoits. On Wednesday, Sindh police reached the protest site and carried on a baton charge over the peaceful protestors.

The chain of protests and demonstrations in Pakistan is both widespread and diversified. Almost every region is protesting against the establishment. Every region has its own problem that ranges from enforced disappearance, persecution, indiscriminate tax surge, religious persecution among others. In between all this Sindh is also registering its protest against the failure of law-and-order machinery.

People of Sindh, for quite some time, have been raising the concern of dacoits that are freely executing crimes without any fear. But the negligent establishment failed to provide redressal. In a series of abductions Mukhi Jagdish Kumar, a 72-year-old Hindu trader was abducted on June 22 from Bakshapur town of Kashmore district in Sindh. Along with him, the dacoits also abducted his grandson Jagdish Kumar, who is 9 years old. While the Police turned a blind eye to his abduction, a month later, a video was released by his son showing Jagdish Kumar in shackles and being tortured by the dacoits.

The dacoits demanded Rs. 5 crores as ransom for the release of Jagdish Kumar. Meanwhile, another young man named Sagar Kumar was also abducted by the dacoits on August 9. Later, a similar video was again released by the dacoits in which Sagar Kumar was chained and was brutally tortured. He, akin to Jagdish Kumar, pleaded for his release. Unfortunately, even after two months of such horrendous law and order violations, the Police kept silent and no actions were taken.

Start of the Kashmore Protest

Some reports suggest that a doctor named Munir Niyaj has also been captivated by the dacoits for more than 40 days. As per protestors, there are approximately 10 people who had been abducted by the dacoits.

As people were disheartened over their unfortunate condition in Pakistan, it was another video of Jagdish Kumar that made people enraged. Seeing no other way left, the frustrated people of Kashmore decided to organize a protest demonstration and a sit-in to seek the establishment’s attention to the case in point.

On September 1, the Hindu community staged a protest at Dera More in Kashmore. The protest got widespread attention and sympathy from all across Sindh. The protest led to the release of Mukhi Jagdish Kumar and two others. As a result, the Kashmore protest was called off on Tuesday, September 5^th.

However, there were other people in captivity, who were not released, the local residents started another protest, referred to as Kandhkot protest, the very next day.

But soon after the protest started, local police started lathi-charge on the people. The protestors were so brutally treated that some of them sought immediate medical attention. Police also lodged FIR against some of the protestors. Besides this unjustified act by the local police, a group of assailants also infiltrated the event and injured the protestors, showing a clear nexus between the Police and assailants.

Never-Ending Tale Of Hindu Persecution

While talking to The Dawn, Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) leader and Sindh Bar Council (SBC) member Advocate Abdul Ghani Bijarani, said: “The sit-in at Kashmore’s Dera More ended last night, but this protest is in fact continuity of it.” He went on to say, “We are just demanding recovery of hostages and nothing else.” And “We are being told to call off the protest, but we refuse to do so.”

The baton charge aggravated the anger even more and to pacify the protestors, the local SHO has been suspended by the SSP. According to him, the measures taken by the SHO were unauthorized from the high ups. Furthermore, an enquiry has also been ordered by the SSP.

Nevertheless, what the SSP is doing is nothing more than a damage control procedure. Currently, the situation still remains vulnerable as the protests have been thrashed brutally and those who are in captivity of dacoits still don’t have any way out.

So, how the Kashmore protest started and later transformed into Kandhkot protest is yet another tragic incident that underscores the worsened law and order situation in Sindh along with the never-ending tale of Hindu persecution in  the region.

TTP has captured villages in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after it launched  a massive attack on the Pakistan Army in Chitral district. Chitral is a border district that touches Afghanistan’s Kunar, Nuristan and Badakhshan provinces. The attack was launched on Wednesday. While there were clouds of suspicion over the attack, as Pakistan media almost kept silence, TTP commander confirmed their action through a telephonic conversation to The  Khorasan Diary.

During the conversation, he said, “An operation in Chitral district has been launched by the TTP and various villages have been captured. It started at 4 am this morning. We will share pictures as well as currently we are having poor internet issue there.”

TTP also captured two Pakistan Army post in the region. Soon after the attack was launched the Pakistan Army launched its counter operation, but, failed to curb the TTP attack quickly and suffered heavy losses. Reportedly, there have been almost  500 TTP militants in the region waging a war against Pakistan. Pakistan also roped in their SSG commandos to deal with the TTP penetration.

While the shelling escalated from both the sides, 11 Pakistan Army personnel have reported to be killed. On the other hand, 12 of the TTP militants have also been killed. Some of the reports also suggest that, as many as 90 Pakistan Army soldiers have also been captured by TTP.

Pak Army Kills Innocent Children

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s shelling inflicted heavy losses on the civilian population. In Waziristan, Pakistan Army shelling led to the death of four innocent children, marking a start of debate around the way Pakistan Army is dealing with TTP.
Amidst escalating war like situation in Chitral, the clashes also ensued in Quetta. Today morning, Counter-Terrorism Department forces killed five TTP militants  during  an operation conducted in Aghbarg area of Quetta.

Pakistan that has been the protagonist and patron of terrorism in South Asia is now facing the outcomes of its own horrendous acts. Unfortunately, it’s the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan that are also paying the cost.

In Pakistan, there was a sharp increase in armed attacks in the month of August, with 99 incidents reported across the country, the highest number in any month since November 2014. These attacks resulted in 112 deaths and 87 injuries, most of which were Pakistan Army personnel. There was an 83% increase in attacks from July, when 54 attacks were reported.

According to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), there were also four suicide attacks in August, three of which occurred in the tribal districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and one in mainland KP. There were also five suicide attacks in July, the maximum in a year.

Overall, there were 22 suicide attacks in Pakistan in the first eight months of 2023, resulting in 227 deaths and 497 injuries. The data shows that Balochistan and the erstwhile FATA were the most affected areas by violence in August.

Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa province (excluding the tribal districts) also saw a significant increase in militant attacks, rising from 15 in July to 29 in August, an increase of 83%. There was also a 188% and 73% increase in deaths and injuries, respectively.

The province was primarily targeted by the TTP and splinter groups, which claimed responsibility for several attacks. There was a slight increase in attacks in Sindh, increasing from three in July to five in August. Deaths also rose from one to four.

Punjab province remained relatively peaceful and there were no reports of any attacks in August. The only attack in July was a low-intensity explosion near a police station in Lahore that injured one person.

The data also shows that security forces have remained the primary target of militant violence, accounting for 50% of all deaths and 63% of all injuries. There was a 51% increase in security force deaths in August 2023 compared to July.

In August, a total of 85 attacks were carried out by the Baloch armed freedom fighters, including a major attack on a Chinese citizen convoy in a sensitive area of Gwadar on August 13 by the BLA Majeed Brigade.

In the same month, an IED attack in Balghatar targeted a vehicle of Pak Army-backed trader’s vehicle, killing 7 people. Baloch freedom fighters targeted Pakistan Army personnel in various types of bombings and armed attacks in other cities, including the capital Quetta.

Weeks after the Jaranwala incident of mass vandalization of Churches on the call of radical clerics, Christians are again under attack.
In a viral video, a Christian man belonging to Sheikhpura in Lahore expressed the horrific situation saying that Jaranwala like call had been made from the local mosque. Frightened by the call, he along with his family fled their house and reached an unknown location. He stated that various other families have also fled the locality and are seeking refuge.

In the video, the man elucidates how an argument between a Christian man and a Muslim led to the atrocious calls. The allegations of blasphemy have been put on the local Christians and a large mob of radical Islamists had gathered to conclude the mischievous “purge”.

The aforesaid man urged the authorities to take strict measures to protect them and their houses. Blasphemy has been used as a brutal tool to target the religious minorities in Pakistan. Apparently, Hindus and Christians are under attack. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has crafted the law to oppress and harass the religious minorities, as a result, the radicalized individuals exploited it and made an environment of absolute anarchy.  

Pakistan has persistently undertaken a crackdown on the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leaders and activists. More recently, a PTM member named Qazi Tahir Masoud has been disappeared by the Pakistan Army.

Reports suggest that Tahir was abducted from his house in Manghopir Karachi at around 4:00 a.m. Being a member of PTM, he has been vocal for the human rights of Pashtuns. Tahir has also been raising his voice over the extra-judicial measures taken by the Pakistan authorities to oppress the people across Pakistan.

As of now, his whereabouts remain unknown. PTM has warned that if he is not released, their workers will organise a sit-in demonstration in front of the Mangopir Sultanabad police station. Abduction and enforced disappearances have been the tool of the Pakistan Army and its subsequent “so-called” law enforcement machinery. They use it to crush the voice of dissent.

After the Islamabad jalsa of PTM, Pakistan authorities are using every tactic possible to subvert the Pashtun masses. The large number of Pashtuns that gathered in Islamabad shook the Pakistan authorities and Army from its roots. Hence, with the sole motive of brutally crushing the Pashtun Movement, a series of illegal arrests and detention have ensued that needs to be highlighted.