It is truly a sad day for Pakistan’s liberal, moderate and compassionate voices. It is a sorry time for all those who prize justice, freedom and humanity over and above everything else. There is a resounding silence within the confines of civil society in the whole of Pakistan, and in Karachi in particular, with the news of the coldblooded murder of a beacon of light that will shine no more in the port city. Sabeen Mahmud, the founder and director of The Second Floor (T2F) café, a space dedicated to open discussion, dynamic ideas, artistic endeavours and uncensored views, is with us no more. She was shot dead by the typically referred to ‘unidentified assassins’ who roam our nation’s streets extinguishing the few sources of light we have left. On her way home from a discussion event at T2F on Friday evening, travelling in her car with her mother, she was shot dead at point blank range. Her mother also sustained bullet wounds and is still fighting for her life. This was a targeted attack, of this there is no doubt, but why was this beautiful woman, this activist with a heart of gold, targeted so brutally? There are many fingers pointing in many directions but what needs to be taken stock of are the circumstances in which she was murdered, the coincidences involved and the need now to bring those who snuffed out this voice of reason to justice.
Sabeen was on her way home from hosting an event called Unsilencing Balochistan: Take 2, featuring the chairperson of the Voice for Missing Baloch Persons Mama Qadeer, an activist and crusader for missing people in Balochistan. This is the same talk that was forcibly cancelled at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Balochistan is a very sensitive topic, with many using hushed tones to skirt around the issue. That Sabeen was hosting such a contested event has made it very easy for many to reach conclusions concerning those who would rather silence voices concerned with Balochistan than to hear anyone speak out about the issues. What we also know is that Sabeen was a moderate, a woman, a freethinker and inclusive soul. That makes her the kind of target militants would waste no time in eliminating. It has been reported that she also received death threats from Islamist militants. While the timing of her murder does seem suspicious and related to the event she had just hosted, one cannot say for sure which elements are involved.
Sabeen’s murder has been filed under the Anti-terrorism Act. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has announced that the intelligence agencies will assist in the investigation into her death. Now is the time for the nation to mourn her loss and the only way to do that is bring her killers to justice. Whoever they are, whatever their agenda, whatever the motive, Sabeen’s murder cannot be in vain. Pakistan has lost too many moderate and rational minds; it has suffered the loss of too many of its intellectuals and liberals. Sabeen was a symbol of the kind of Pakistan we want to leave for our children, an icon of free thought and progressive ideas. She will be missed because the kind of Pakistan we have now is a dead place, an airless wasteland with no sense or purpose. *