NEW DELHI: Maulana Ziaur Rahman’s death in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Karachi, would have caught the attention of his family, friends, and those who believed in his religious sincerity. Numerous clerics work outside of religion in Pakistan, and some of them are often fired for a variety of reasons.
Except for a few factors, Pakistan’s military-industrial complex would not have been alarmed by Rahman’s murder by two motorcycle-riding unknown shooters who shot their victim repeatedly while he was taking his customary evening stroll.
Ziaur Rahman was a Lashkar member, and its key asset, Khalistan Commando Force commander Paramjit Singh Panjwar, was also murdered. In May, while on a morning walk near his home in Lahore, Panjwar—who was sought by India for terrorism—was shot and killed by unknown assailants.
According to individuals who have been following the developments, the ISI, Pakistan’s secret agency and the mastermind behind the terror campaign against India, has placed about a dozen of its “assets” in “safe houses” because of the similarities between the two murders. The killings of two additional Laskhar agents in September, Abu Qasim Kashmiri in Rawalkot and Qari Khurram Shehzad in Nazimabad, may have made the precaution even more necessary, according to sources.
The murder of Rahman was reported on September 12. 11 cartridges, some of which were 9mm calibre, were discovered by the local police. He was running Jamia Abu Bakar, a seminary that served as a front for his terrorist activities, according to reports.
Khalid Raza, previously of Al-Badar Mujahideen, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, the same Karachi neighborhood where Rahman was to be assassinated later, is among those on what seems to be a growing list.
Mistry Zahoor Ibrahim, a hijacker of Indian Airlines flight IC-814, was killed by gunfire in Karachi on March 1. Unknown shooters opened fire on the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist, striking him twice in the head.
Law enforcement authorities and the ISI in Pakistan are alarmed by the recent killings. They have been accusing India’s foreign intelligence agency without any support because there is no suspect and they won’t accept that the killings may have been motivated by gang rivalry. This is despite the fact that their own research indicates the involvement of neighborhood thugs who were too familiar with the layout of the neighborhoods where their victims lived and squads of comrades who assisted them in successfully escaping and blending in.