Sindh govt urged to ensure justice in Nimrita case

Criticising the Sindh government for its failure to ensure the protection of minority citizens, a number of civil society and political activists and minority leaders organised a protest outside the Karachi Press Club on Friday, calling for the provision of justice for Nimrita Chandani, who was found dead at a medical college in Larkana a few days ago.

The Democratic Students Federation, a left-leaning student outfit, organised the protest. Prominent participants were Akash Ansari, Naghma Shaikh, Dr Hanan, Saqib Khurshed, Kulsoom Baloch and Saleem Michael.

The protest participants also called attention to the riots in Ghotki this week over an alleged blasphemy incident, in which a Hindu temple and a school owned by a Hindu were vandalised. They called for a judicial inquiry into the temple’s desecration.

The protesters lamented that incidents of attacks on Hindu worship places, cases of abductions, forced conversions and forced marriages of teenage Hindu girls were on the rise across the province.

“It is a conspiracy to spoil the interfaith harmony of the Sindh province, which is known for its harmony and diversity,” said a protester. The speakers said the country’s constitution guaranteed protection to the life and property of all the citizens, but still the Hindu community felt insecure due to frequent incidents of violence, kidnappings and forced conversions of their girls.

A day earlier, a large number of students of various medical colleges and universities of Karachi held a protest demonstration against the suspected murder of BDS final year student Nimrita at her hostel room.

The protesting students of the Dow University of Health Sciences, Jinnah Sindh Medical University and other medical institutions gathered outside the Karachi Press Club and demanded that the authorities inquire into the alleged murder.

Carrying banners and placards, they chanted slogans for justice for the deceased student, saying that those behind the killing of an innocent girl at her hostel room should be arrested and taken to task to ensure the safety of other female students.

“Parents have asked their daughters staying at hostels to abandon their education and return home after the killing of Nimrita. If killers of Nimrita are not caught and hanged, female education in this country would face an unprecedented setback,” said Alina, a medical student who participated in the demonstration.