Civil society protests against denial of justice to Nazim Jokhio

KARACHI: Civil Society held a protest, on Tuesday, outside Karachi Press Club, against striking off the names of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Jam Awais and his brother MNA Jam Abdul Karim from the charge sheet of the Nazim Jokhio murder case.

The protesters demanded justice for Jokhio and his family. They held placards demanding swift justice for Jokhio. Few card placard on which it was written, ‘Punish Nazim Jokhio’s Murderers’, ‘No One Should above the Law’ and Feudalism and Fascism? Not at any cost!!’

Rights activist and advocate Jibran Nasir said the protest raises the question to those in power: If the implementation of the constitution of Pakistan is confined only to NA speaker or about making no confidence motion successful.

He said the constitution of Pakistan stresses on the life to right and dignity for a common man. “We have freedom of expression, right to protest, freedom of movement, right to fair trail, right to due process, right to privacy,” he said, adding but all these have been blown away in the Nazim Jokhio murder case. The alleged murderer of Jokhio, he said, was aided in all possible ways by the provincial government. Administrator Karachi Murtuza Wahab of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), he pointed out, got the alleged murder bailed from the Sindh High Court.

The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research’s (PILER) Karamat Ali during the protest said the way Nazim Jokhio's case was handled by the Sindh government is very shameful. The way the names of the accused, who also happen to legislators have been struck off from the charge sheet, is violation of the law itself, he pointed out.

General Secretary home-based Women Workers Federation Zarha Khan stressed they are demanding nothing that is outside the constitution. “All classes of the society should be treated equally,” she said, adding that a single class cannot be privileged to end up killing people and go scot-free. The courts, she said, should intervene to turn Jokhio's murder case into a test case. Civil rights activists Sheema Kermani said today they hve came together to protest and demand justice for Nazim Jhokio. We demand safety and security of life for all citizens. Anyone who commits a crime must be punished. Justice for the poor, justice for Jhokio!,”she chanted.