Thousands make a statement against terrorism at Amjad Sabri’s funeral

‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’

KARACHI: Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to Amjad Sabri at his funeral, said Shahzeb Khanzada on Geo News programme, ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, on Thursday.

He said that despite the fact that it was a very hot day and that people were fasting thousands of people braved the hard weather to attend the funeral and make a statement against terrorism.

Shahzeb said that the police have issued a sketch of the suspect who may have killed Amjad Sabri. Following the release of the sketch by the police, a startling disclosure has been made by a woman, Hameeda Begum, claiming that the sketch resembles her son, Nasir, who has been missing for the last three years. 

Hameeda Begum said that her son had been taken by one Tahir Baloch, a resident of Lyari and against whom police had registered many cases in several police stations of the city. Police said that like Nasir, Tahir Baloch, who is wanted by the police in some very serious cases, has also been missing.

In a different segment of the programme, Shahzeb Khanzada said that politics in the country has been revolving around PanamaLeaks for the last three months. The deadlock between the opposition and the government persists.

Shahzeb Khanzada said that it appears that the troubles for the government would increase after Eid. The Tehreek-e-Insaf is talking about staging another sit-in protest movement in August.

He said that even the Pakistan People’s Party has toughened its stance on PanamaLeaks. In the PPP, Bilawal Bhutto and Aitzaz Ahsan have been spearheading the tough stance against the government.

In a still different segment of the programme, Shahzeb Khanzada said that the spokesman for the Armed Forces, Asim Bajwa, has rejected the impression of a gulf in civil-military relations.

Meanwhile, the woman who claims to be the mother of Amjad Sabri’s alleged killer,  Hameeda Begum, while talking to Shahzeb Khanzada on the programme, said that the sketch of Amjad Sabri’s killer resembles her son who has been missing for several years.

“My son, Nasir, also used to wear a cap. Three years ago, a man named Tahir Lashari of Lyari gang war had taken my son from my home. I have been running from pillar to post for the last three years, but no one has paid any attention to my plea,” said Hameeda Begum.

She said that if her son has killed Amjad Sabri then he must be punished for the crime, but at least she should be told where her son is. 

“I even went to the courts, but nobody heard me. I said to the police to summon the father of Tahir Lashari and make him sit in the police station for two hours and he will tell everything. The people my son Nasir used to mingle with were not good. He had even started taking drugs for which he used to take money from me. Tahir Lashari stayed at my place twice after which my son went with him. I was once elected councilor on a PPP ticket,” said Hameeda Begum.

A leader of the PPP, Qamar Zaman Kaira, while talking to Shahzeb Khanzada on the programme, said that his party had supported Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri on issues like election rigging and the demand to bring the people responsible for the Model Town tragedy to book.

“However, we differed on the means to achieve those ends. The day the participants of the sit-in movement attempted to charge the Parliament, we scrambled to defend the Parliament,” he said.

Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the prime minister and his family have not refuted the disclosures in the PanamaLeaks. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on the programme that Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had spoken to the prime minister by telephone before and after the prime minister’s surgery.

“Whenever the Army Chief talks to me he always inquires after the health of the prime minister. Some people are deliberately trying to create confusion about civil-military relations,” said Ishaq Dar.

He said that the prime minister has sent some names to him for members of the Election Commission so that he could consult with the leader of the opposition on those names.  Ishaq Dar said that the lead person of the PPP in the ToRs committee has been misguiding his party.