Hidayat Lohar, a 56-year-old teacher at a primary school in Nasirabad, had dreams of change and transformation. He expressed his thoughts without any fear of consequences, until unknown individuals near Nasirabad fired shots and shook the community. Hidayat Lohar had educated his daughters, Sassi Lohar and Surth Lohar, and instilled in them the value of education and perseverance.
Sassi Lohar and Surth Lohar did not remain silent after their father’s murder. They raised their father’s funeral and went to the police station to file an FIR against those suspected of being involved in their father’s killing. Under Pakistan’s constitution and police law, heirs have the right to file an FIR against suspects they suspect, but the police denied registering the FIR, leading to protests and sit-ins in society. Although protests erupted in other cities of Sindh as well, the Sindh government did not give importance to the murder of a school teacher and social worker.
Members of civil society also staged a sit-in outside the Karachi Press Club. Speaking at the sit-in, the chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Asad Iqbal Butt, stated that Hidayat Lohar was murdered in cold blood. It is essential to arrest Hidayat Lohar’s killers for the sake of law and order. A team from the HRCP visited Nasirabad to uncover the truth behind Hidayat Lohar’s murder.
The team collected all the facts surrounding the murder and recorded statements of eyewitnesses, as well as obtained the position of senior officers at the Nasirabad police station. The HRCP team compiled a comprehensive report, which stated that Hidayat Lohar left for his school on February 5th. Two individuals on a 125cc motorcycle suddenly appeared and stopped him on the road. One of them showed a video call on his smartphone, displaying someone’s face, possibly confirming the identity. One of the individuals then fired shots at Hidayat Lohar’s face, three of which hit him while one struck his neck.
After achieving their target, the assailants left the scene, leaving Hidayat Lohar in critical condition. Hidayat Lohar succumbed to his injuries on the spot. Hidayat Lohar’s son, Anayat Lohar, and both daughters performed post-mortem on his body. Many individuals, including Hidayat’s students, staged a sit-in on the Indus Highway for several days demanding the arrest of the culprits.
Hidayat Lohar’s family claims that video footage of the murder was also obtained. The video allegedly shows the motorcycle license plate and the face of the person firing at Hidayat, but the police did not pay attention to this footage. Hidayat Lohar’s daughters state that their father was actively engaged in promoting education and social and political change without any personal enmity towards any individual or group.
The HRCP report suggests that the killers stopped Hidayat Lohar near his home at a junction where the main road divided into three separate paths. A member of the HRCP committee, Ali Ousat, stated that the team initially went to the police and requested to see the crime scene where Hidayat was killed. They were accompanied by a police officer in civilian clothing.
The police sent a soldier dressed in a simple uniform with the team. The soldier showed the team the location and pointed out the blood stains and empty bullet shells at the scene. However, when the team asked if the crime scene had been preserved, the police officer did not respond, indicating that the police did not conduct a thorough investigation into Hidayat Lohar’s murder, and did not file the appropriate FIR to protect the accused.
The HRCP report recommends that, based on the statements of Hidayat Lohar’s heirs, a proper FIR should be filed, and the police should conduct an impartial investigation. If the culprits are found to be involved, they should be arrested and given harsh punishment in accordance with the law. The provincial government is urged to arrest the perpetrators involved in the murder of Hidayat Lohar and provide justice. Human rights lawyers are pushing for Hidayat Lohar’s murder to be classified as extrajudicial killing.
Incidents of target killing in Balochistan have become a common occurrence, with hundreds of individuals falling victim to such acts during the last two decades. The trend of making political workers disappear continues. Many political workers have been missing for 23 years. Numerous cases of missing persons and target killings are pending in the high courts and supreme courts of all four provinces, resulting in numerous cases of interim relief. However, in Sindh, the series of harassment of social and political workers has been going on for a while. Additionally, incidents of target killings of political workers are on the rise. Last year, it was reported that 778 individuals were victims of target killings.
The police have failed to apprehend the killers. In Karachi and other areas of interior Sindh, the number of individuals falling victim to target killings stands at 154, with 90 individuals losing their lives in Karachi alone last year. The murder of Hidayat Lohar has sparked protests not only across Sindh but also in Europe and America. His killing occurred during the general elections, and now as new governments take office, a new era of human rights can be initiated. Immediate attention should be given to the arrest of Hidayat Lohar’s killers.