‘Mullah gardi band karo’; Sindh fights back against extremism at Dr Shah Nawaz’s funeral

A grand funeral was held on Sunday (September 22) for Dr Shah Nawaz, the man suspected of blasphemy and killed in an alleged extrajudicial encounter by Sindhri police in Mirpurkhas, in his native village near Umarkot. Thousands of funeral attendees chanted angry slogans against the extremist wave of religiosity in the garb of the blasphemy law, resulting in the brutal murder of the medic. The participants belonged to all walks of life and came from all around Sindh, including Karachi.

It was reported that a charged mob which burnt the body of the slain suspect consisted of the far-right Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan and other groups. In the videos, the crowd at the funeral could be seen chanting loudly, “Mullah gardi band karo, dehshagardi band karo” (stop this extremism by religious leaders, stop this terrorism).

Dr Shah Nawaz’s grave was also adorned by the Sindhi traditional shawl Ajrak as people sang a folk song at his final resting place.

Many attendees also paid homage to Premo Kohli, a Hindu, who buried the remains of the slain doctor.

The doctor was killed by police after it was alleged that he shared blasphemous content on his Facebook account.

The last video of Dr Shah Nawaz has also emerged online, in which he said that he doesn’t use Facebook anymore. “The ID is very old, under the name Shah Nawaz Shah. I haven’t used it in a long time. I have already mentioned that I’ve stopped using Facebook.” He went on to add, “There’s is nothing to hide, I’m being transparent about everything. I will have everything investigated.” He pleads people not to label him as a disbeliever as he is open to all sorts of investigations. “Let the police do their work,” he asserted.

Earlier, his mother shared her son’s inclination towards Islam, stating that he used to pray five times a day and sent her to Hajj last year.

In the same video, his daughter also asked for justice for her father. “The policemen must be brought to justice! They killed my father, they should be locked up in jail,” she demanded.

Dawn quotes Dr Shah Nawaz’s wife, who said that her husband used to teach the Quran to young children. “How could he indulge in blasphemy?,” she asked.

The police team involved in the alleged encounter have been suspended by the Sindh police and an investigation is underway.

Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar was fatally shot by police in an alleged extra-judicial killing in Mirpurkhas on September 19, a day after he was arrested on allegations of blasphemy.

To read more: Blasphemy suspect killed in police encounter; body burnt by mob