Islamabad--The killing of a prominent Pakistani rights campaigner Friday has sent shockwaves through the country's progressives, as those who speak out against alleged abuses by the state say they are under increasing threat.
Sabeen Mahmud, the 40-year-old director The Second Floor cafe in Karachi which regularly hosted debates and arts events, was killed when gunmen attacked her car as she left the venue minutes after hosting a seminar on abuses in the restive Baluchistan province.
The same talk -- featuring prominent Baluch activist Mama Qadeer who has campaigned for the "missing people" of Baluchistan -- had been cancelled by the prestigious Lahore University of Management Sciences weeks earlier after members of faculty reported pressure from intelligence agencies.
Police say they are examining whether she was targeted because of her work at the cafe, which held talks against religious extremism as well as state brutality.
"She had no personal enmity so there is much possibility that she might have been targeted because of her intellectual activities. She was getting threatening calls from some unknown callers. We are working (out) who they might be," senior police official Jamil Ahmed said Sunday.
- Culture of impunity -
Her death led to an outpouring of grief with hundreds of mourners attending her funeral Saturday, as the United States and the European Union joined Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in officially condemning the killing.
But most analysts say there is little chance her murderers will ever be brought to justice given the recent history of impunity among those who target the country's marginalised liberals.
Last year, prominent liberal TV host Raza Rumi narrowly escaped a gun attack on his car in Lahore that killed his driver, while another anchor, Hamid Mir, survived being shot in the stomach in Karachi shortly after hosting a TV programme about Baluchistan.
No perpetrators have been brought to justice in either case.
TV anchor Mir, whose brother quickly pointed the finger at the country's shadowy Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI) for the attempt on his life, said he saw several parallels with the attack on Mahmud.
"The most common factor was Mama Qadeer Baloch because I received threats when I invited him on my show," Mir told AFP.
"I got six bullet injuries, she got maybe four. I was attacked by the people who were riding a motorcycle, she was too. My attackers were guided by some people who were sitting in a car and this was the same case in her incident."
AFP
