Bhutto dynasty rightful heir to partake in rally against extremism in Sindh, By Ahmar Mustikhan

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Civil society leaders are working overtime to organize a protest march against dangerous religious extremism in Sindh in Karachi, the heart of Sindh and commercial capital of Pakistan, next Sunday.

Karachi: A grandson of assassinated premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who is his namesake and openly queer, will be taking part in a historic rally against religious extremism in Karachi, the commercial capital of Pakistan, next Sunday.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr. took part in a press conference that was addressed by feminist and human rights defender Sindhoo Nawaz Ghanghro and other leading human and women rights defenders at the Karachi Press Club Thursday.

The press conference was meant to condemn the extrajudicial killing and barbaric burning of the body of Shaheed Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar on September 19 in Umerkot by the Islamists and Sindh police.

“He (Bhutto Jr.) is rightful heir but denied (power),” said Imtiaz Mogul, who for decades worked as a hotelier with Parsi businessman Happy Minwalla. Bhutto had until now limited his social engagement only to preservation of the endangered Indus Dolphin.

On Sunday, Bhutto Jr. visited with the family of Shaheed Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar. He asked Shazain Kunbhar, the orphan son of the slain doctor, what he would like to become once he grew up, and the boy replied, “Doctor.”

Bhutto Jr. with Shazain Kunbhar, son of Shaheed Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar, as the father of the slain doctor Mohammad Saleh Kunbhar (white hair) looks on.

Bhutto Jr.’s grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was sent to the gallows on April 4, 1979 by U.S. backed monkey general Ziaul Haq after a fake trial for killing a Punjab politician. In fact, the senior Bhutto had antagonized the U.S. and the then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had warned him that the U.S. will make a “horrible example” out of him.

The march, called Sindh Rawadari March or Sindh Tolerance March, is a collective call for peace and justice, Sindhoo Nawaz Ghanghro said, adding that the main organization of Sindhi Americans— the Sindhi Association of North America— has announced full support for the march.

According to the Dawn newspaper, a joint consultative meeting of the Youth Action Committee (YAC), Women Democratic Front (WDF) and Women’s Action Forum (WAF) was held in Sindh city of Hyderabad on Saturday.

Ghanghro along with other leading women activists Amar Sindhu, Professor Arfana Mallah Comrade Alia Buxal and Dr. Bakhtawar Jam, participated in the meeting to plan the upcoming march against extremism.

These women leaders strongly condemned the open threats, public incitement to violence, use of abusive language, and harassment directed at activists and political workers by the religious clerics.

The women leaders demanded strict legal action against those involved in hate speech and online harassment, affirming their commitment to the struggle against extremism in Sindh.

Ghanghro said the troubling alliance among religious political parties, extremist groups, and far-right forces, has posed a grave threat to Sindh’s rich secular and Sufi traditions.

“These groups systematically seek to impose a rigid and intolerant ideology, exploiting religion to serve their political and business interests,” Ghanghro lamented.

She added, “Their agenda threatens to plunge our society into darkness, undermining the values of peace, tolerance, and humanity that have long been the pillars of Sindh.”

Ghanghro said in response to this escalating threat, a broad coalition of progressive, nationalist, liberal, and pro-peace organizations, and political parties is needed, “and we have successfully brought together all progressive forces to combat the rise of religious extremism and fundamentalism in Sindh.”

She demanded justice for Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar, whose extrajudicial murder, she said, was executed under false blasphemy accusations. “His extrajudicial killing serves as a stark reminder of the impunity with which human rights violations are perpetrated.”

Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar was killed as the Sindhi mullahs accused him of posting on Facebook that the Prophet Mohammed first wife, Khadijah, was 15 years older than him and his third wife, Ayesha, was 44 years younger than him.

The Islamists consider such posts blasphemous even when Muslim scholars, including Zakir Naik who is visiting Pakistan these days, admit that Mohammed consummated his marriage with Ayesha when she was nine and he was 53. They also acknowledge Mohammed had nine other wives and couple of slave women in his household, most prominent among who was Mariah.

The extremists led by Mullah Omar Jan Sarhindi and backed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Javed Jiskani and Senior Superintendents of Police Captain (Rtd) Asad Chaudhry and Asif Raza Baloch, did not allow the burial of the victim in the family graveyard. When the family took the body for burial on their private land, dozens of these fanatics followed them there, snatched the body from the hapless family, doused it with gasoline and set it afire.

“For centuries, Sindh’s identity has been shaped by its secular and Sufi traditions—values that promote peace, tolerance, and inclusivity… This struggle transcends generations, defending the principles that will shape the Sindh of tomorrow,” Ghanghro appealed.

The peace march will commence at Teen Talwar (Three Swords) and culminate at the Karachi Press Club.

Pakistan insiders say the clerics are boosted by their country’s military and intelligence services for a variety of reasons. One is deterrence against arch rival India and the other is blackmailing the West for money to counter extremism.

Makhdoom Janii’s claim

Meanwhile, an interesting social media star from Sindh, anti-mullah and anti-feudal Makhdoom Junaid Janii, who has 378,000 followers on Facebook, has exposed senior leaders of the Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam, who are defending the blasphemy killings, as closeted homosexuals. Janii, who like Bhutto Jr. is openly gay, has posted his video in a striped T-shirt which was gifted to him by a leader of the Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam— the party flag has stripes on it.

Makhdoom Janii claims he also has a compromising video of the radical party’s Sindh leader, Mullah Rashid Mehmud Soomro, who has openly backed the extrajudicial killing of Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar.

Islam strictly prohibits homosexuality.

Top and center: Qari Sher Mohammed having romance with Makhdoom Janii. Bottom: The same mullah seen with Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam leader Mullah Rashid Mehmud Soomro.

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