Daily Times

The 15-member medical board set up by the Sindh government to examine the viscera samples taken from the body of Bashir Qureshi, the deceased chairperson of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JQSM), has found traces of organophosphate, a chemical used in pesticides, in the samples, which the board says might have caused the death of one of the most revered leaders of Sindh’s nationalist movement. The presence of organophosphate or phosphorous beyond normal levels in the body can, according to the medical experts, lead to a heart attack. The board admitted that despite a request, the family of the late Bashir Qureshi did not give them Mr Qureshi’s medical history. It is strange then that in the very next breath, the board has asserted that the deceased had a history of heart problems. The JSQM leaders have denied this. The new medical report therefore has failed to resolve the mystery of the circumstances surrounding his death since its report is inconclusive.

Since Qureshi’s death, his party members had been agitating, accusing the government of not considering their suspicions over their leader’s death in unusual circumstances. The JSQM, being one of the largest nationalist pressure groups in the province, held a number of strikes across interior Sindh. The provincial government, bowing before their legitimate demand, had to get the viscera samples re-examined. The JSQM had even demanded that the government send the samples to London, indicating a lack of confidence in the competence or impartiality of doctors working at Pakistani laboratories. The re-examination by Dow Medical University has partly fulfilled their demand, but left the very painful charge that Qureshi had been murdered unresolved. Now the JSQM has raised the ante by demanding the death of Mr Qureshi be investigated by the UN, as in the case of Benazir Bhutto, failing which they will continue their agitation. Another strike has been called for today in Sindh, which is likely to meet a response in the interior of the province, where the nationalists are strong.

Regrettably, Qureshi’s death has once again raised the spectre of political murders that have a gory history in Pakistan’s politics. The medical report raises a few important questions. First, who is the beneficiary of this alleged murder? Second, who hatched this alleged conspiracy against Qureshi, who developed fatal symptoms immediately after having dinner hosted by one of his supporters? Third, if his supporter is involved in a murder, what had motivated him and who had helped him commit the act?

The JSQM has been levelling serious allegations against the establishment and some of the government’s coalition partners for their leader’s murder. It believes that Bashir Qureshi had been a thorn in the establishment’s side for raising his voice against the injustices being done to the people of Sindh since 1947. The allegations are serious and need a thorough inquiry into the alleged political murder as it has caused a severe blow to the movement of Sindhi nationalists who had found an effective leader in Qureshi after the demise of G M Syed in 1995. Now it is the duty of the Sindh government to get to the truth and, if the accusations prove correct, expose those responsible for this alleged murder and bring them to book. Any delay or laxity shown over this serious matter might cause severe problems for the provincial government, particularly in interior Sindh. The grievances of Sindhis are already rife. The province might explode if the government fails to establish the circumstances leading to his death and if it was a murder, nab his killers soon. *