KARACHI: Nationwide protests at the police killing of a young ethnic Pashtun man in Pakistan鈥檚 largest city have shone a spotlight on allegations of persecution by the authorities against refugees from the country鈥檚 conflict-ridden northwest.
The country鈥檚 Supreme Court launched an inquiry on Jan. 19 into the death of 27-year-old aspiring fashion model Naqibullah Mehsud. He was one of four men killed six days earlier in what police initially said was a shoot-out with suspected Islamist militants. The Supreme Court plans to begin hearings on the case on Saturday.
The police team that killed Mehsud was under the command of senior superintendent Anwar Ahmed Khan, who has been suspended since Jan. 20 on the recommendation of a police inquiry committee. The committee was set up after Mehsud鈥檚 father, Muhammad Khan Mehsud, who denies his son had any militant links, filed a kidnapping and killing complaint against him.
Anwar told Reuters he had done nothing wrong and said the investigation into his officers鈥� actions could allow the Taliban to regain a foothold in ethnic Pashtun parts of the city.
鈥淚 had no knowledge of Naqibullah Mehsud. My staff told me that he is a militant with a criminal history,鈥� he said.
Police data from 2011 reviewed by Reuters shows that in the seven years Anwar has been in charge of Karachi鈥檚 Malir district, which has a large Pashtun population, at least 450 people have been killed in 200 clashes with police that involved weapons. The data does not give details of the circumstances of the shootings.
A senior police official, who asked not to be identified, said that the majority of those killed were ethnic Pashtuns. Pakistan鈥檚 ethnic Pashtun borderlands have been a hotbed of Islamist militancy in recent decades.
Militant policy
Pakistani police refer to any armed clash with suspects as an 鈥渆ncounter.鈥� Some human rights activists and families of victims have for years alleged that such incidents are often staged to cover up extrajudicial killings.
Anwar told Reuters that armed operations to kill suspects were official police policy in Sindh Province, of which Karachi is the capital, to combat the threat from militants.
鈥淭here was an on-going official policy ... for carrying out encounters to take out criminals and I have broken no law,鈥� he said.
The provincial police chief denied there was such a policy.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 need to respond to irresponsible allegations,鈥� Inspector General of Sindh police Allah Dino Khawaja said in a brief text message in reply to Reuters鈥� questions. 鈥淗e has to appear before the investigation to defend and prove his claims.鈥�
Sindh police said in a statement on Jan. 20 it had launched an inquiry 鈥渢o ascertain the facts regarding the police encounter in which Naqibullah Mehsud was killed.鈥�
Some campaigners among the sprawling city鈥檚 Pashtun community say the story is not unusual. But it is the first to receive nationwide attention 鈥� in part because Mehsud, known as Naqib, does not fit the image of the militant from Pakistan鈥檚 lawless northern heartlands.
鈥淗e had a passion for wearing good clothes ... even in the picture of his body circulating on social media, he is seen wearing good clothes,鈥� his cousin Noor Rehman told Reuters, while holding back tears.
Another senior police officer said no evidence linking Naqib to militancy had been found.
鈥淗is particulars were checked in all the criminal databases of police and nothing came up,鈥� the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Pakistan鈥檚 chief justice on Tuesday summoned Anwar to appear for questioning at its first hearing this weekend. Earlier that day, he was not allowed to board a flight leaving Pakistan for Dubai, Pakistan鈥檚 Federal Investigation Agency said.
Anwar told Reuters he does not plan to appear before the court. He said his children are studying in Dubai and he frequently visits.
Target group
Pashtuns are Pakistan鈥檚 second largest ethnic group, and many have moved to the country鈥檚 big cities to escape violence along the Afghan border.
But since the emergence of the Pakistani Taliban, whose leadership also comes from the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan, Pashtuns who spoke to Reuters in Karachi say they are all now seen as potential militants.
鈥淭his is not just about the fact that police are killing people, it is about racial profiling,鈥� Jibran Nasir, a human rights lawyer who said he was filing a petition with the Senate鈥檚 human rights committee, told Reuters.
鈥淣aqib had a very public profile. Looking at pictures of Naqib modelling ... no one is willing to believe he had anything to do with Taliban. The problem here is not every Pashtun killed and profiled here is a model.鈥�
Figures posted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on its website show 1,226 people were killed in 784 police encounters nationwide in the past two years.
In the days after Mehsud was killed, thousands of activists and Pashtun students staged protests in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad and Quetta.
In Sohrab Goth, the majority Pashtun suburb of Karachi where Naqib鈥檚 family live, three families told Reuters they had lost relatives in such incidents.
Reuters was shown death certificates and newspaper clippings, but was not able to independently confirm the circumstances of their deaths.
Sohail Anwer Sial, home minister in the Sindh provincial government whose department is responsible for the police, said the authorities were taking action over the Mehsud case, but that one or two incidents did not mean the entire police force was corrupt.
鈥淭he same police force ... eradicated violence from the city during Karachi operation鈥�, which began in 2013 against militants,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ne person鈥檚 actions cannot be allowed to malign the system.鈥�