Funeral prayers offered for slain activist Khurram Zaki

KARACHI: Funeral prayers for slain rights activist Khurram Zaki were offered Sunday evening outside the Chief Minister House in Karachi. His body was brought in a coffin outside the CM House in the form of a rally.

Several relatives, supporters, and activists had gathered near the CM House for the funeral prayers of the prominent civil society activist and social media campaigner who was shot dead in a targeted attack by unknown gunmen in North Karachi late Saturday night.

According to latest reports from law enforcers, a forensics report had been prepared of the used bullet shells recovered from the scene of the crime.

Police officers said two separate 9mm bore pistols were used in the gun attack on Zaki and his friends.

The weapons have not been used in any previous crimes, said the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arib Mehr. "We are carrying out further investigation," he said.

The murder case was registered earlier today at the Sir Syed police station.

Campaigner against extremism

Zaki was a research scholar, former journalist, blogger, and human and civil rights activist. He was popular on social media as the editor of the website Let Us Build Pakistan (LUBP), an online forum which claimed to "spread liberal religious views and condemned extremism in all forms".

Zaki and a friend were sitting at an outdoor restaurant in Sector 11-G of North Karachi when attackers on two motorbikes sprayed him with bullets and fled.

"Zaki was sitting at a cafe where he was targeted by four armed men arriving on two motorcycles," Muqadas Haider, a senior police official said.

The two friends along with a passer-by, identified as Aslam, were wounded and taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Zaki was later moved to the Aga Khan Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

SHO Iftekhar of the Sir Syed Police Station said Zaki had recently shifted to North Karachi from Gulistan-e-Jauhar. The victim was also a Zakir, who delivered sermons at Majalis.

Calls for justice

The murder of the social activist was condemned by several politicians, with several people posting messages on social media website Twitter with the hashtag #JusticeForPeaceActivist to condemn the killing.

Speaking to reporters, Zaki's widow said that her late husband received several death threats due to his criticism of banned outfits and campaigning against extremism.

Mourners raise their hands and shout slogans during the funeral.—Reuters photo

"He received a lot of death threats. He had openly posted on Facebook that he and his family were receiving threats," said Khurram Zaki's widow. "My husband has been taken from me. I urge you all to call for the culprits to be brought to justice."

She said that her family was still in danger and that the government had not provided any security to them.

"If my father's killers believe that they have been succeeded by committing this brutal murder, then they are mistaken. They have helped my father succeed in his greatest cause by martyring him. I am proud of being the daughter of a man who will counted among martyrs," said Zaki's daughter. 

Chairman Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took serious notice of the brutal murder and urged authorities to ferret out the culprits and bring them to book at the earliest.

In a statement by the PPP media cell, the PPP chairman condemned the murder and paid tributes to "the slain civil society activist who always stood against injustices and atrocities against the innocent people in the country". Bilawal expressed sympathy with the family and assured them that the killers would not be spared and they cannot go scot-free under any circumstances, said the statement.

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the attack and expressed sympathies with the family of the slain activist.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) condemned the killing, demanding immediate arrest of the murderers.

“Khurram Zaki’s murder is condemnable. Incidents of targeted killing are occurring in spite of the on-going operation in the city,” said the MQM’s Coordination Committee in a statement.