Pakistan: Details of the murder of Doctor Syed Jafar Raza at Gulshan-e-Iqbal in Karachi on 31 May 2001; whether the doctor was Shia; whether the murder was viewed as sectarian violence; whether the police have arrested anyone in connection to this crime and, if so, whether there have been any convictions; whether witnesses to the crime have come forward; and whether there have been reports of witness intimidation or threats

According to information contained in two articles, Doctor Syed Jafar Raza was shot outside of his clinic in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, on 31 May 2001 (The Herald Aug. 2001; Dawn 1 June 2001;). As reported in Dawn, witnesses indicated that Raza was shot outside of his ENT General Clinic in Block-16 in Gulshan-e-Iqbal by "some unidentified men, riding on a bike" (ibid.). He reportedly died on the spot, having received two gun shots – one in the head and one in the jaw (ibid.). The funeral was scheduled to take place at the Madinatul Ilm mosque (ibid.).

While no specific reference is made to whether Raza was a Shia, the president of Tehrik-e-Jaffria (TJP), a Shia organization, condemned the killing, terming it an "act of terrorism aimed at creating tension" (Dawn 1 June 2001). A senior police official, while stating that it was too soon to determine the motive behind Raza's killing, stated that the "possibility of sectarianism could not be ruled out" (ibid.). Similarly, the August 2001 Herald article included Raza's murder in a chronology of sectarian violence occurring from 12 October 1999 to August 2001.

Although the references to the doctor murdered involve different names, given the similarity in the details of the killing, the following information is also of interest:

A June 2001 article reported the 31 May 2001 killing of a Shia Doctor Syed Mehdi Raza Jafferi in front of his ENT clinic in Block 16, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, an area under the jurisdiction of the Aziz Bhatti Police Station (Shia News 1 June 2001). According to the article, the doctor, a managing trustee of the Imam Bargah-e-Madinatul Ilm and an associate professor at Hamdard University, was killed by members of the Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahaba (ibid.).

Similarly, two articles refer to the 31 May 2001 murder of a Doctor Raza Mehdi Jafri outside of his ENT General Clinic in Block 16 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi (Dawn 10 Jan. 2002; ibid. 1 Oct. 2001). According to the 1 October 2001 article, four men were arrested on 30 September 2001 for their involvement in five "sectarian-motivated" killings, including that of Doctor Raza Mehdi Jafri (ibid.). Those arrested were identified as Mufti Mohammed Shahid Hanif, Talha Husain, Khalil alias Hasan Jan, and Haider Ali (ibid.).

Although the incident was said to take place at Block 15 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, several additional articles refer to the 31 May 2001 killing of a Doctor Raza Mehdi Jafferi as he got into his car in front of his clinic (ibid. 16 Apr. 2002; ibid. 5 Apr. 2002; ibid. 4 Apr. 2002; ibid. 7 Apr. 2002). Four people, Mufti Mohammed Shahid Hahif, Muhammed Talha Hasan alias Nauman, Haider Ali and Khalil Ahmed, were arrested for the murder of Raza Mehdi Jafferi and four others "belonging to a rival sect" (ibid.). An anti-terrorism court convicted the four, who were identified as workers of the banned Sunni group Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, and issued sentences of capital punishment to two and a life term to the others (ibid. 16 Apr. 2002). Two eye-witnesses to the murder presented evidence and identified "Talha" (Muhammed Talha Hasan alias Nauman) as the one who had shot the Doctor (ibid.).

No information on whether there have been reports of witness intimidation or threats could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Dawn [Karachi]. 16 April 2002. Tahir Siddiqui. "4 Sectarian Activists Get Life, Death Sentences." [Accessed 27 Feb. 2003]

_____. 7 April 2002. "Judgements in Five Sectarian Murder Cases Reserved." [Accessed 27 Feb. 2003]

_____. 5 April 2002. "Judgement Reserved in Sectarian Killing Case." [Accessed 27 Feb. 2003]

_____. 4 April 2002. "Accused in Sectarian Killings Record Statements." [Accessed 27 Feb. 2003]

_____. 10 January 2002. Arman Sabir. "102 People Fell Prey to Terrorism Last Year." [Accessed 27 Feb. 2003]

_____. 1 October 2001. "Karachi: Four Men Arrested for Involvement in Killings." [Accessed 27 Feb. 2003]

_____. 1 June 2001. "Doctor Shot Dead in Karachi." [Accessed 25 Feb. 2003]

The Herald [Karachi]. August 2001. Vol. 32, No. 8. Azmat Abbas. "Lashkar's Big Split."

Shia News [Rugby, UK]. 1 June 2001. Ali Raza. "Another Shia Doctor and Trustee of Imam Bargah-e-Madinatul Ilm, Killed by Wahabi Terrorists." [Accessed 25 Feb. 2003]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

NEXIS

Internet sites, including:

BBC

Dawn Wire Service

Hamdard University

The Nation

The News International

Pakistan News Service

World News Connection

Search engine:

Google