The killing of PTI leader Zehra Shahid Hussain, serving in the capacity of senior Vice President of Sindh Chapter, just hours before re-polling of NA-250 was to be carried out came as a tragic shock for her party. Minutes after the devastating news was aired, literally all cadres of the party responded with countrywide protests. Major cities’ squares and roads where the party was already conducting sit-ins over rigging, people rushed in droves. As the crowds swelled, traffic jams were observed late in the night. A bed-ridden Imran Khan accused MQM supremo Altaf Hussain for the killing; he said Zehra had been receiving threatening calls by MQM activists. Condemnation has also come from the PML-N, whose leader Shahbaz Sharif said that this cannot be allowed to go on.
The sad thing is that the police kept flip-flopping between different versions of what happened. First, it stated that the murder was the result of a dacoity attempt but then came up with another version that it could be a target killing. No wonder, with our police, working in this pathetic manner, crime has been thriving. All it takes is the blink of an eye to shoot a rival down while the bandits are never seen again. However, at this stage so far as the political parties especially the PTI is concerned, it is understandable the agony and anger it is going through but wisdom cautions us against needless mudslinging at least not when the investigations are thoroughly done.
The culture of violence has been hitting people, from all segments of life. What is to be done; is Karachi and its denizens left to their fate? The life of fear of assassinations, and target killing, that the brave citizens of the city are enduring, is mocking the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam, who would not have imagined in his worst nightmare that such a fate would afflict his people. What have we done to his vision!