Punjab (Pak) police murders Sindhi student Saajan Malookani in fake encounter
By News Intervention Bureau – October 17, 2024
Saajan Malookani, a Sindhi law student forcibly disappeared 14 months ago by Pakistan Army, has been killed in a staged encounter by Punjab Police.
According to the Jeay Sindh Students Federation (JSSF), Malookani was abducted by Pak security forces on September 1, 2023, while returning home from the Old Campus of Sindh University, Hyderabad (Pak). Despite multiple protests, legal petitions and appeals to human rights organizations, authorities failed to provide any information on his whereabouts. On October 6, 2024, Punjab Police declared him killed in a “police encounter” in Rahim Yar Khan’s riverine area, falsely labelling him a dacoit.
Malookani’s killing has reignited accusations of Army-backed repression in Sindh, with the Pak Army’s involvement in enforced disappearances coming under renewed criticism. The military operates with impunity, orchestrating the abduction of activists and students as part of a campaign to suppress Sindhi nationalist movements.
The Pak Army’s “death squads” operate through proxy law enforcement agencies, using police encounters as a convenient cover to eliminate those they want, no reason asked.
Extrajudicial Killings and Crackdown on Minorities
Despite protests across Sindh and a constitutional petition filed by Malookani’s mother in the Sindh High Court, Pak authorities failed to secure his release. The Forum for Missing Persons of Sindh repeatedly warned that Malookani would be executed under the guise of a police operation, just as other had been.
Malookani was targeted alongside two other missing activists, Shaukat Malookani and Naeem Malookani, who remain unaccounted for. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Hyderabad is also abricating charges against the three men, setting the stage for their arrests and staged killings.
The Pak military’s pattern of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings reflects a systematic strategy to stifle ethnic and nationalist movements in Sindh. The military has created a culture of oppression, with security forces operating beyond the reach of law or accountability. Malookani’s killing is a stark reminder of the ruthlessness of the Paki establishment, where the Army’s colonial mindset drives efforts to eliminate any form of dissent.
