Pakistan:

Shiite professor shot dead in Karachi

Rasa - Assailants on Wednesday shot dead an assistant professor of the University of Karachi (KU) in Federal B area.

News ID: 2434

Date: 30 April 2015 - 23:26

RNA - Dr Syed Wahidur Rahman, also known as Yasir Rizvi, was an instructor at the Karachi University's Mass Communication department, Dawn reported.

Although DIG West police Feroze Shah said that the slain professor belongs to the Shia community, Dr Rahman's colleagues at KU, on condition of anonymity, said it is not clear whether he belonged to the Shia sect.

He was killed when four unidentified attackers riding two motorcycles opened fire on his car.

Police surgeon Dr Jalil Qadir said Dr Rahman received five bullets wounds on his face, neck, chest, abdomen and arm while police reportedly recovered eight bullet cases from the site.

The assailants managed to flee the scene soon after the attack.

Dr Rahman's body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in Karachi.

Dr Rafia Taj, former chairperson of the Mass Communication department, said that the slain assistant professor was an active member of the faculty.

She also said his death is a "great loss for the department" and that he was a kind and polite person.

A KU professor who requested anonymity said that Dr Rahman had been working as a journalist for the past 15 years and was relatively a new staffer at the varsity.

"He was a very dedicated and honest teacher and it’s possible that his killing might be related to the recent killings of teachers at KU and NED," the professor said.

Regarding speculation that Dr Rahman’s killing is linked to KU’s scheduled talk on Balochistan "Baloch Missing Persons and the Role of State & Society", the professor said, “He was in no way related to the ‘Unsilencing Balochistan Take 3’ to be held on May 6 at University of Karachi".

I

n the wake of Dr Rehman's death, university activities have been suspended for two days.

Soon after the news of his death broke, students and teachers rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Earlier in September of last year, Prof Dr Muhammad Shakeel Auj, dean of the faculty of Islamic Studies at KU was shot dead on University Road in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.

Police in Jan 2015 had claimed the arrest of a suspect who had allegedly confessed to his involvement in the murders of Karachi University dean of Islamic Studies Prof Dr Shakeel Auj and Prof Syed Sibte Jafar.

Earlier this month, the vice-principal of the Jinnah Medical and Dental College's student affairs wing Debra Lobo was shot and seriously injured on Shaheed-e-Millat Road in Karachi.

Rampant violence has terrorised Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city and economic heartbeat, in recent years, but a recent security crackdown seems to have brought a lull in the bloodshed.

Kidnappings for ransom, sectarian attacks and gang warfare have spiralled since 2008, terrifying the city's 18 million inhabitants and prompting tens of thousands of businessmen to flee to the safety of Punjab province.

The city claimed a grisly record in 2014 as 2,029 people were murdered on its streets, according to the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS).

Students Protest

Students and admirers of Dr Rahman protested against his murder outside the university's Silver Jubilee Gate on University Road.

Students demanded that the culprits be handed down punishments on an immediate basis and safety should be provided to the teachers and students in Karachi.

Police began a probe into the incident and observed similarities in the murders of Dr Rahman and Dr Shakeel Auj.

President Mamnoon Hussain took notice of Dr Rahman's murder and sought report into the incident from Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

PM condemns killing of KU professor

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the killing of Karachi University's Assistant Professor Dr Syed Wahidur Rahman and sought a report into the incident.

He prayed that the departed soul rest in eternal peace and directed the authorities to apprehend the criminals at the earliest.

The premier said his government is making sincere efforts to rid Karachi of criminal elements, and expressed confidence that the situation in the metropolis would soon improve.

Better known by his pen name ‘Yasir Rizvi’, Dr Waheed-ur-Rehman, the Karachi University teacher and journalist who was shot dead on Wednesday morning, was a popular teacher and a trusted friend.

A few know about his personal life and the reason why he chose this pen name to write for the Daily Ummat, as there are many of his acquaintances who came to know about his real name only when he is no more in this world. However, the one attribute that everyone relates to Dr Rehman was his great sense of humour.

“He was a thorough professional and a well-behaved person. The one thing I liked about him was that he would find some funny angle in ordinary events,” said Sajjad Abbasi, joint editor of the Daily Ummat where Dr Rehman worked for almost eight years before he joined Urdu University and later KU.

As a reporter, Dr Rehman was assigned to cover activities of political and religious parties and religious seminaries. “His reporting was not focused on a single party. It was during his tenure at our paper that he did his PhD. After leaving our newspaper, he started writing for Nai Baat,” he added.

Appointed assistant professor at the mass communication department of KU in 2013, Dr Rehman was later asked to also act as media adviser to the vice chancellor.

“He did his doctorate under the late Prof Shakeel Auj and Dr Tauseef Ahmed, presently teaching at the Urdu university. He had a very close association with the late professor and was helping Prof Auj’s family in the murder investigation,” said Dr Osama Shafeeq, his colleague and friend at the KU mass communication department.

“I met him at the Urdu university and both of us were hired at KU almost the same period. We used to have tea together on the campus on a daily basis. Today, when I called him for tea, there was no reply,” Dr Shafeeq said in a grief-stricken voice.

He said: “Being the only child and having suffered his father’s death while he was still in school, Dr Rehman had to work hard early in life to support his family and make a career.”

According to Dr Shafeeq, also an assistant professor, Dr Rehman never told him about any kind of threat. “He was always positive and stayed away from controversies,” he said.

Sharing his sentiments, Dr Shakeel Farooqui of Karachi University Teachers Society said Dr Rehman gained popularity on the campus within a short time and that explained why the university asked him to serve as a media adviser. “It was always a pleasure talking to him, as he was a man with strong arguments. It’s a great loss and tragedy,” Dr Farooqui said.

Dr Rehman has left a wife and two daughters.

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