Zahra Shahid Hussain

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Zahra Shahid Hussain
Personal details
BornKarachi, Pakistan
Died18 May 2013
Karachi, Pakistan
NationalityPakistani
Political partyPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

Zahra Shahid Hussain (Urdu: زہرہ شاہد حسین) commonly known as Zara Apa, was a Pakistani activist-politician, teacher and the senior vice president of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Sindh. She had formerly served as the president for PTI's women's wing of the party in Sindh, and was a member of the central executive committee of the party.[1] On 18 May 2013, she was assassinated outside her house in the upscale Defence Housing Authority neighborhood in Karachi.[2][3]

Assassination[]

According to police, Hussain was ambushed by two people on a motorcycle. Her murder took place on the eve of a highly contested partial rerun of the general election. According to a witness, "The assailants opened fire...as soon as she reached the gate of her residence. Apparently they were there to target her only". An eyewitness said that she had handed the attackers her belongings, but they shot her even then.[4] Another report from Dawn News said that "[a]ccording to police, three motorcycle riders tried to steal Hussain’s handbag and opened fire upon resistance" (emphasis added). This report attributed the "handed [the purse] over" report to PTI leader Firdous Shamim.[5]

PTI leader Imran Khan blamed Altaf Hussain a wanted criminal in Pakistan who is in self-imposed exile since 1992 after a crackdown was launched against his party,[6][7][8][9][10] former leader of Karachi's dominant Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party for her murder.[4][11] The MQM chief a few days earlier had used threatening language saying his party workers would teach protesters at Teen Talwar a lesson if he ordered them to do so. Altaf Hussain also threatened to harm those who were hatching conspiracies against MQM and said “I am about to set free my enraged followers if opposition against our party is not stopped”.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Pakistan politician Zahra Shahid Hussain killed in Karachi", bbc.co.uk.
  2. ^ "Zahra Shahid Hussain: A woman of substance", tribune.com.pk.
  3. ^ "I would want you to know who Zahra Shahid was", dawn.com.
  4. ^ a b "Leading Pakistan politician Zahra Shahid Hussain killed outside home", guardian.co.uk, May 18, 2013.
  5. ^ a b PTI senior leader Zahra Shahid killed on eve of Karachi re-polls, dawn.com, 2013-05-19.
  6. ^ "Phony Nobel Prize nominee linked to leader of Controversial Pakistan political group deported". US Fed News Service  – via HighBeam (subscription required). 20 November 2006. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  7. ^ Baruah, Amit (2004-11-07). "Accept Line of Control temporarily: Altaf Hussain". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 March 2019. "The division of the sub-continent was the greatest blunder," he thundered to cheers from the audience. "It was the division of blood, culture, brotherhood, relationships," he said, switching from English to Urdu.[dead link]
  8. ^ Ghosh, Papiya (2014). Partition and the South Asian Diaspora: Extending the Subcontinent. Routledge. ISBN 9781317809654.
  9. ^ "'Two-Nation Theory' a complete fraud: MQM leader Altaf Hussain". Asian News International. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019. "The said theory was invented by the British Empire to deceive and divide the people of the Indian Sub-Continent," he added. He said this while addressing live to his millions of followers through social media. He categorically asserted that the division of the Indian sub-continent was a blunder. "British Empire had occupied Indian sub-continent and Indians were slaves to the British rulers and hence they introduced that theory so as to keep the Muslims and Hindus divided so that the British could rule for a longer time. Unfortunately, Muslim and Hindu populations had accepted that fraudulent and mischievous notion of Two-Nation Theory," he said. He further said that the said theory was to prevent any revolution against the tyrant occupation of the British Empire and also to fail the freedom movement for India.
  10. ^ Walsh, Declan (30 April 2009). "Spate of shootings kill 29 in Karachi". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 June 2009. The MQM leader, Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, has become a loud critic of the Taliban and warned of possible "Talibanisation" in Karachi. This stance has won the MQM praise from secularists but aggravated relations with Karachi's Pashtun population, which considers the anti-Taliban campaign as an excuse to undermine them.
  11. ^ "PTI leader Zahra Shahid Hussain gunned down in Karachi", thenews.com.pk.
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