Umarkot: “Had there been a well, we would have laid his body there. That would have spared it from being burned by fanatics,” says Dr Shahnawaz Kanbhar’s mother Rehmat.
On September 19, Kanbhar was killed by police. On September 26, an investigation ordered by Sindh’s home ministry found that the encounter was staged by local police, who had alleged that he committed blasphemy.
The Wire has previously reported on Kanbhar’s killing, which came after he made an allegedly blasphemous post on Facebook on September 17. He had denied the allegations. There had been violent protests in Umarkot after news of Kanbhar’s post spread.
Two days later, local police had claimed that Kanbhar was killed in a shootout after a failed traffic stop.
Rehmat said that although the family had received her Kanbhar’s dead body, the police should have stepped in to protect them from religious extremists who were intent on burning it.
Rehmat added that her family – who changed routes multiple times while carrying Kanbhar’s body in order to throw the extremists off their trail – were left high and dry, abandoned to face the extremists alone.
Umarkot, formerly known as Amarkot, still has a Hindu majority, followed by a sizeable Muslim population. Kanbhar’s killing shocked the Sindh province as it had not witnessed such an incident with direct police involvement before.
While such religiously motivated incidents are more commonly reported in Punjab, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they have now begun to emerge in Balochistan as well.
In most cases, crowds have lynched, burned or killed those accused of blasphemy. However, in recent times, police officers have also been responsible for these killings – according to the Centre for Social Justice, eight accused were killed extrajudicially by police in 2024.
Kanbhar’s widow, Naimat (40) told The Wire that she continued to live in fear, uncertain of when or where religious extremists might rear their head to attack them.
She asked why the police did not follow the law when her family and her husband had done so and cooperated with them. “We handed … over [all the necessary information] in the hope that he would be protected, but instead, the police killed him.”
Police, religious extremists tied to burning of Kanbhar’s body
Junaid (28), Kanbhar’s cousin, alleged that senior superintendent of police (SSP) Asif Raza Baloch – who is among those implicated by the police inquiry committee and named in the FIR in the case – declared at a protest led by the Pir Sarhandi shrine, “My heart says that I must punish him [Kanbhar] severely.”
He also alleged that the medical superintendent at the civil hospital where Kanbhar worked quickly removed Kanbhar after the latter allegedly posted the blasphemous content, even though he was not in the city and unaware of the situation, and yet everyone reacted against him without an investigation being held.
He recounted how his family members carried Kanbhar’s body to their private land for burial after local cemeteries refused to bury it. He was baffled by how religious extremists seemed to track their every move, even as they repeatedly changed routes to throw them off. “There’s no way they could have known where we were,” he said, implying that the police may have helped the extremists track them.
Junaid added that a local religious cleric named Haji Ahmed Shahani led the mob that burned Kanbhar’s body – a painful irony given that Shahani had once taught the Quran to Kanbhar.
He also noted that once the extremists set fire to the body, the police arrived in the blink of an eye.
The family was not surprised by the police’s swift appearance after the burning, but they were left wondering why the police had not stopped it from happening.
Rehmat Kanbhar speaks to this reporter about her son. Photo: By arrangement.
In the FIR filed on September 27, the family is cited as alleging that the police were involved in burning Kanbhar’s body in order to eliminate evidence of the torture wounds they alleged were present on his body.
Naimat, Kanbhar’s widow, burst into tears saying, “They wanted to kill my Shahnawaz and they did.” With a lump in her throat, she added, “When they were not satisfied with the killing, then they burned his body.”
Her daughter sat beside her, her face filled with sorrow, while everyone in the room was engulfed in sadness. The blasphemy allegation not only changed the family’s lives but also burdened them with blame for a lifetime.
Kanbhar’s daughter accuses officials of killing him in viral video
Hareem (12), Kanbhar’s eldest daughter, recorded a viral video where she blamed police officials for her father’s killing. Speaking to The Wire, she said she did not want to name anyone, but did not deny the fact that officials – such as SSPs Baloch and Asad Chaudhary, deputy inspector general of police for Mirpurkhas Javed Jiskani as well as Crime Investigation Agency in-charge officer Khalil Khanbar, all of whom are named in the FIR in the case – ought to be investigated.
In contrast, after the video became viral, Khalil Kanbhar posted a message on social media denying all allegations against him and demanding an investigation into the case.
Naimat, Kanbhar’s widow, remained worried. “My daughter has come to the media and I am concerned about her safety,” she said. Hareem jumped into the conversation, asking, “If anyone is not involved, then let [an] investigation be held.” “I want justice for my father,” Hareem said loudly and confidently.
Sindh refuses to yield to fanatics
The Sindh province did not remain silent after Kanbhar’s killing. The protests led by common people in Sindh in response to Kanbhar’s killing were unusual as far as pushback to blasphemy allegations in Pakistan is concerned.
Maanjhi Faqeer, a folk singer, announced he would offer funerary prayers for Kanbhar and pay tribute to him through folk music – an unprecedented act in a country where those accused of blasphemy rarely receive condolences after being killed.
Despite risks, some Sindhis continue to protest, express condolences and stand against his killing – courageous acts given the deeply conservative state they live in.
While protests have erupted across Sindh, Kanbhar’s family and other citizens in Umarkot remain gripped by fear.
A friend
Prem Kohli (26), a Hindu man and the driver for Kanbhar’s family, struggled to protect his body from the fanatics. Although he understood the gravity of the situation, especially after the Kanbhar community distanced itself from Shahnawaz’s family, Kohli decided to stand with them anyway.
When this reporter met Kohli at a local dhaba, he recounted what had happened on the day Kanbhar’s body was burned, saying he still did not understand how the extremists found them and arrived swiftly even though he had taken the body to a remote area.
Kohli also recalled that when he refused to hand over Kanbhar’s body to the extremists, they threatened to burn him first and the body next. When they began to advance to burn him, he was forced to hand over the body to them, he said.
However, he did not flee the scene – he hid nearby and returned to extinguish the fire as soon as the extremists left after burning the body, he said.
As Kohli narrated his account, a molvi (religious cleric) suddenly appeared, seemingly having been informed of our whereabouts.
Kohli said he was unafraid. He stands by Kanbhar’s family. “I buried a kind person with my own hands,” he added.
No arrests made even as Sindh government finds police killed him
The committee formed by the Sindh government to probe Kanbhar’s killing has concluded that local police killed him in a staged encounter. However, it is yet to clarify on whose orders the killing was carried out. People in Sindh continue to demand a judicial inquiry and a fair investigation.
Despite these demands, the government has not yet arrested the police officers or the religious cleric named in the FIR.
Naimat expressed doubts about the investigation, fearing that evidence may be tampered with as the police did not return any of her husband’s belongings, including his phone.
Religious groups support Kanbhar’s killing
Religious groups continue to celebrate Kanbhar’s killing despite the Sindh government committee’s report. Some have even planned political gatherings in Mirpurkhas and Umarkot in support of the blasphemy accusations against Kanbhar.
Rehmat, Kanbhar’s mother, said she could not see her son’s face one last time. “What did they gain by inflicting such anguish on us? Even Hindus and Christians wouldn’t commit such brutality as the police and fanatics did to him,” she said.
