An installation titled ‘Killing Fields of Karachi’ by artist Adeela Suleman presented at Karachi’s Frere Hall as part of the Karachi Biennale 2019 was forcibly shut down.

As per details, the art piece also included a video showing Naqeebullah Mehsud’s father and the scene where Naqeebullah, a model and shopkeeper from South Waziristan, along with two others was murdered allegedly in a fake police encounter led by former SSP Malir Rao Anwar in Karachi in 2018.

A press conference of lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir was also interrupted by the DG Parks, who snatched mics and forced him to stop the presser.

While talking to the media, DG Parks Afaq Mirza said, “making graves is not art but vandalism”.

He further said that the park was for the public but not for any political activities, which should be conducted anywhere in the city but not on government properties.

A very sweet gesture by the art students who tried to restore the artwork which was destroyed.

While talking to The Current, Jibran Nasir said that at first the artwork was sealed and then it was destroyed. Later, art students restored the artwork but it was again destroyed by LEA personnel. Jibran Nasir said that he along with some art students are reviving it once again.

Meanwhile, Karachi Biennale took to social media to respond to the situation.

Speaking to The Current, artist Adeela Suleman said that she is an artist and was just trying to depict ecology of violence. “We could talk about how we have harmed air or degraded the environment but when we discuss how we have affected humanity, our work gets censored.”