Umme Rubab case: Hafiz Naeem says feudalism has prevailed over justice in Sindh

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Monday strongly criticised the verdict in the Mehar triple murder case, in which a court acquitted all the accused allegedly involved in the killing of three family members of Umme Rubab Chandio.

Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Hafiz Naeem termed the decision a “victory of feudalism” and a “defeat of justice” in Sindh.

“Wadera system has prevailed, and justice has lost its way,” he said, adding that the verdict once again proved that the justice system is subservient to powerful feudal lords.

He paid tribute to Umme Rubab Chandio’s struggle, calling it historic, and said she had stood bravely against influential feudal figures while demanding justice for her family.

Criticising the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), he questioned its leadership, asking whether Umme Rubab Chandio was not a daughter of Sindh. “Do you only support the powerful and feudal elite?” he asked.

Hafiz Naeem urged political parties and human rights organisations to stand with Umme Rubab in her fight for justice.

He said the core issue in Sindh was not ethnic divisions but the dominance of feudal lords. “The feudal mindset is crushing the people,” he remarked.

Recalling the Nazim Jokhio murder case, he said Jokhio was also a Sindhi whose only “fault” was challenging the wrongdoing of influential feudal figures, for which he was brutally killed.

Earlier on Monday, a model criminal court acquitted all eight accused in the case after an eight-year-long legal battle.

Those acquitted include Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders Sardar Ahmed Chandio and his brother Burhan Khan Chandio, along with former SHO Karim Chandio and others — Sattar Chandio, Ali Gohar Chandio, Murtaza Chandio, Sikandar Chandio, and Zulfiqar Chandio.

Strict security arrangements were in place in and around the court during the announcement of the verdict.

The incident took place in Mehar, Sindh, on January 17, 2018, when armed men attacked a house and killed Umme Rubab’s father, grandfather, and uncle. The victims included Raees Karamullah Chandio, then chairman of the Baldia Union Council in Mehar taluka, and his two sons — Mukhtiar Chandio, a member of the district council, and another son associated with the Tumandar Council.