Pakistan: After police promise to take action in the death of farmer Kailash Kohli in Badin, the Hindu community concludes the sit-in

Pakistan: Senior police authorities promised demonstrators that action would be taken against the powerful landowner who is suspected of killing a young peasant, ending the Hindu Kohli Community’s two-day sit-in that stopped traffic on the Thar coal route in Badin district on Friday.

With backing from over a dozen political, nationalist, and religious organizations, hundreds of men, women, and children from the minority Kolhi community organized the demonstration. According to The Express Tribune, protesters forced police to detain Sarfaraz Nizamani, who is suspected of murdering 22-year-old peasant Kailash Kolhi earlier this month, by blocking the Thar coal supply route and the key road via Tando Muhammad Khan that connects Badin to Hyderabad.

The demonstrators claim that Kolhi was shot and killed on January 4 in a hamlet close to Talhar. They said that after a fight, the accused, a prominent local landowner, opened fire and then left the area with armed friends. The local community was incensed because the accused had not been taken into custody despite the case being registered.

Senior Superintendent of Police Qamar Raza Jikani and Deputy Commissioner Yasir Bhatti spoke with the demonstrators three times. Chetan Kolhi, the victim’s father, lead the discussions and insisted on his son receiving justice right now. The demonstrators decided to end the sit-in after receiving promises from the government, but they gave the accused a week’s notice to be arrested.

Chetan Kolhi told the reporters that Nizamani was angry and drunk at the time of the incident. He said that after hearing gunshots, the family hurried to the scene and saw Kailash lying on the ground with deadly bullet wounds. According to The Express Tribune, he said that “the accused and his men pointed guns at us and then escaped” when they arrived.

The police were harshly criticized by minority rights activist Sodhi Kolhi, who said that the daylight death of an unarmed farmer demonstrated the vulnerability of underprivileged populations. Despite public criticism, she questioned the delay in apprehending the primary suspect and urged law enforcement to uphold the law with compassion.

The Badin District Bar Association abstained from Friday’s court sessions as a sign of solidarity. Attorneys denounced the murder and said that the police were reluctant to pursue the case because of the accused’s power. Along with representatives of Sindh Kolhi Ittehad and other political and nationalist organizations, members of the bar attended the demonstration to call for prompt and unbiased justice.