Social media all praise for Prem Kolhi who gave dignified burial to Doctor Shah Nawaz

Social media has labelled Dr Shah Nawaz Kunbhar’s Hindu driver, Prem Kolhi, the real hero of the tragic ordeal in which the health professional was killed by police.

Kohli first tried his best to save the doctor’s body from an angry extremist mob and later buried him respectfully.

Dawn quotes Dr Shah Nawaz’s father, Mohammad Saleh Kunbhar, as saying that the mob also tried to lynch Prem Kolhi, who was bringing the body back home in a car after it was handed over by the police. He related that the mob tried to torch the car with the body and the driver inside but Prem managed to escape.

Social media users have lamented the brutal murder of the slain medic and praised Prem for his bravery.

Rabiner Kumar posted a picture of Prem and said, “He was fearless and not afraid of death. Premo considered him ( Dr Shahnawaz) a human being, and did the best what he could against the zombies.”

Journalist A. Waheed Murad posted a video of Kolhi burying the body, poignantly captioning it as “In the desert of Sindh, there was once a Premo”.

Journalist Rafi Raza posted Prem’s picture with the caption, “Prem is a member of a minority community who tried to protect the body of Dr Shah Nawaz from a Muslim mob.”

A netizen by the name of Asad Malik posted, “Prem Kohli who tried to save the body of Dr. Shahnawaz from desecration, Masood Lohar who led the movement to lead the funeral prayer, Allama Abdul Momin Memon who led the funeral prayer today are the Sindhis who make humanity proud.”

Mehar Baloch posted a note of appreciation for the Hindu driver.

Dr Shah Nawaz Kunbhar from Umerkot in Sindh was fatally shot by police in an alleged extra-judicial killing in Mirpurkhas, a day after he was arrested on allegations of blasphemy.

Later, the body was handed over to the family but an angry extremist mob followed them and eventually burnt the body. Since then, Sindhis have struck back at extremist elements, holding a massive funeral for the doctor and singing Sindhi folk songs at his grave which is now covered by ajraks, the traditional cloth that represents the province.