Rights activist gunned down in Karachi

Sabeen Mahmud has become the latest rights activist to be killed in Pakistan, one of the most dangerous countries in the world in which to hold liberal views in the face of Islamist extremism and hardline security forces.

Ms Mahmud was shot dead and her mother injured on Friday night by gunmen on motorcycles as they drove through Defence, one of the prosperous districts of the city of Karachi. She had been hosting a discussion on disappearances in the southwestern province of Baluchistan - where the army has fought separatists for years - at a venue she runs in the city.

She had tried to revive Karachi's long-lost reputation for tolerance and culture by setting up PeaceNiche, which describes itself as promoting "democratic discourse and conflict resolution through intellectual and cultural engagement", in 2007, and knew her work was dangerous.

"We've seen examples of people's apartment buildings being blown up, every type of institution being attacked. But you might walk outside and be run over by a bus," she told the Financial Times last year.

Ms Mahmud received death threats when she opposed a campaign against Valentine's day greetings by an Islamist group, and said after the 2014 attack on Karachi's airport: "This city is battered in so many ways that it's amazing more people are not on antidepressants or tranquillisers."

Suspicion immediately fell on the security forces, with her fellow activists suggesting she was killed for organising a discussion on a subject considered sensitive for the military. The army said it had ordered its intelligence agencies to investigate the shooting.

Earlier this month, a discussion on Baluchistan at the privately owned Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) was cancelled shortly before it was due to be held, and one faculty member later said the discussion was stopped at the request of the army-led Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

Zohar Yusuf, chair of the human rights commission of Pakistan, said: "It's a remarkable coincidence that Sabeen Mahmud hosted this discussion on Baluchistan and was killed shortly afterwards."

Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who championed the education of girls and narrowly escaped death at the hands of Taliban gunmen in 2012, condemned "the tragic killing of a Pakistani hero, courageous human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud".

She said in a statement: "I call on authorities to arrest the perpetrators of this crime and to protect Pakistan's human rights and peace activists, especially those facing death threats. Rest in peace, Sabeen."

Ms Mahmud was hit by five bullets and killed, while her mother was also hit and injured.

A senior Pakistani intelligence official defended the ISI. "I realise the event at LUMS was cancelled. But do you think people who run Pakistan's intelligence services are stupid? It would be crazy to go out and kill an activist just after she hosts an event [on Baluchistan]," he said. "This could be the work of someone trying to damage the ISI's reputation."

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation