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Pucca Qila Operation

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Pucca Qila Massacre
LocationHyderabad, Sindh
Date27 May 1990
Deaths70[1][2]
PerpetratorsSindh Police

Pucca Qila Operation was an operation launched by Sindh Police on the orders PPP led Sindh government against MQM party workers and ordinary protesters in the Pucca Qila area of Hyderabad city. The operation resulted in the deaths of more than 70 people, including men, women and children.[3] The incident resulted in the dismissal of the Benazir Bhutto government by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, allegedly on the orders of Pakistan army.[4][5][6]

Background

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On 14 May, a dispute between different ethnic groups of students over special exam quotas escalated into clashes that spread to the entire city center and resulted in the deaths of three people and a curfew which was enforced for eleven days.[7][8] On the eleventh day, 25 May, the government sent the police, consisting of several forces from predominantly rural districts surrounding Hyderabad, to Pucca Qila, a muhajir dominated neighborhood, where they attempted to establish a police station within the walls of the citadel and to clear it of weapons.[8] The police besieged the area, closed off all exits, entered houses in search of weaponry and shot at people breaking curfew and leaving their houses.[8] Gun battles broke out between the police and MQM militants who had arrived to lift the siege and local MQM party workers who attempted to resist the searches, leading to an escalation of tension in Pucca Qila area.[8][9][10] As a result of the siege, the water supply from the water tower in the citadel was cut off, disrupting the water supply in large sections of Hyderabad.[8]

Massacre

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On May 27, 10 o'clock, a rally of Muhajir women and children started marching from Latifabad to demand the restoration of water supply in Pucca Qila and lift of the 300 hour long siege.[11] The procession, when challenged to stop, dared the police to open fire, because they were carrying the Holy Quran on our heads.[12] The police opened fire, causing a stampede, with the muhajir women and children rushing into the Abdul Wahab Shah Jilani Shrine for shelter.[12] Twenty-four ambulances arrived and carried off the dead and the wounded to nearby hospitals, first to Bhitai Hospital-which had only one operation theatre, so that the surgeons were obliged to operate in the corridors and then move the victims to the St. Elizabeth and Mohammadi hospitals.[12] The massacre and siege ended when Pakistan Army moved into Hyderabad and dismissed the PPP-led government.[13][14]

Aftermath

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Protests

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Protests broke out after the massacre where slogans of death were chanted to the administration, the President, Prime Minister, and the police.

Demands for judicial inquiry

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Ouster of Benezir Bhutto

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The massacre resulted in a rift between Benazir Bhutto and COAS Mirza Aslam Beg and Altaf Hussain and that resulted in President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and General Beg dismissing Bhutto from office.[16][17][18]

References

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  1. ^ Singh, Surendra (2003). Politics of Regionalism in Pakistan: A Study of Sind Province. Kalinga Publications. ISBN 978-81-87644-46-0.
  2. ^ Siddiqi, Farhan Hanif (2012). The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan: The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir Ethnic Movements. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-68614-3.
  3. ^ ASHRAF, ZUBAIR (2017-05-28). "MQM observes 27th anniversary of Pucca Qila tragedy". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  4. ^ "Ex-Brigadier gives real reasons for BB's 1990 govt's dismissal". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  5. ^ Alagappa, Muthiah (2001). Coercion and Governance: The Declining Political Role of the Military in Asia. Stanford University Press. p. 400. ISBN 978-0-8047-4227-6.
  6. ^ Burns, John F. (1995-03-13). "Pakistan Police Carry Out Crackdown Pledged by Bhutto". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  7. ^ Ayres, Alyssa (2009-07-23). Speaking Like a State: Language and Nationalism in Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-51931-1.
  8. ^ a b c d e Verkaaik, Oskar (2018-06-05). Migrants and Militants: Fun and Urban Violence in Pakistan. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-18771-6.
  9. ^ Sprague, Stanley B. (2020-10-29). Pakistan Since Independence: A History, 1947 to Today. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-8151-1.
  10. ^ Jalālzī, Mūsá K̲h̲ān (2002). The Crisis of State and Security in Pakistan. Dua Publications.
  11. ^ Das, Suranjan (2001). Kashmir and Sindh: Nation-building, Ethnicity and Regional Politics in South Asia. Anthem Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-898855-87-3. On 27 May 1990, an apparently peaceful demonstration of Muhajir women and children in Hyderabad to demand restoration of the water supply was brutally crushed by the Sindh government police. This in turn incited Muhajir violence against Sindhis living in Karachi.
  12. ^ a b c Tambiah, Stanley J. (2023-04-28). Leveling Crowds: Ethnonationalist Conflicts and Collective Violence in South Asia. University of California Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-520-91819-1. It is significant that on May 27, the police were deployed and ready to deal with the procession in the Fort area and other demonstrations else- where. For example, three jeeps carrying policemen drove at great speed into the Fort procession, making the people give way. And, apparently the women, when challenged to stop, dared the police to open fire, "because we are carrying the Holy Quran on our heads." The police--one policeman is reported to have shouted, "They are prostitutes" did open fire, causing a stampede, the shrieking women and children rushing into the Abdul Wahab Shah Jilani Shrine for shelter and the men running toward Station Road. 24 Ambulances arrived and carried off the dead and the wounded to nearby hospitals, first to Bhitai Hospital-which had only "one small operation theatre," so that the surgeons were obliged to operate in the corridors and then to the St. Elizabeth and Mohammadi hospitals. All these frenzied events were taking place to the deafening noise of voices over the loudspeakers installed in various mosques, screaming, "Come out of your homes, Muhajirs are being killed"; "Please arrange cots and bedding for the injured"; "Rush to the hospitals and donate blood." In response, "volunteers put up shamianas [tents] in the hospital compound, while women queued to donate blood."
  13. ^ Defence Journal. 1991.
  14. ^ Shafqat, Saeed (2019-08-16). Civil-military Relations In Pakistan: From Zufikar Ali Bhutto To Benazir Bhutto. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-72337-7. The point of contention between Benazir Bhutto government and the military was the manner and the timing of the government's operation. The Sindh government, under clearance from the federal government launched an operation to capture the terrorists who were hiding in the Pucca Qila. The timing was such that the COAS General Mirza Aslam Beg was on a tour abroad, the corps commander of Sindh was on a visit to border areas, while the general officer commanding (GOC) was also abroad. So the action was taken at a time when the military top brass was not available, embarrassed Benazir Bhutto Government as it showed lack of communication between the military and police. A senior police officer, who was involved in the operation told the author that the provincial police had established that the area was a den of terrorists and with a cache of illegal weapons. He said that the operation was larger in scale than the police strength that was available in Hyderabad could handle, and pointed out with some degree of frustration that the police was not given a free hand to run it. The ISI got involved quickly and Army Rangers who were deployed in the city provided protection to the culprits instead of supporting the police action. Consequently the incident was now seen as an ethnic conflict, in which the provincial police, who were predominantly Sindhi were portrayed as massacring the Mohajirs. Later on, upon return from the foreign visit, General Beg, visited the affected areas of Hyderabad and was given a heros welcome, with slogans of "impose martial law, remove Benazir Bhutto."
  15. ^ "MQM observes 27th anniversary of Pucca Qila tragedy". The Express Tribune. 2017-05-28. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  16. ^ Shafqat, Saeed (1996). "Pakistan under Benazir Bhutto". Asian Survey. 36 (7): 655–672. doi:10.2307/2645715. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2645715.
  17. ^ Wasseem, Mohammad (1992). "Pakistan's Lingering Crisis of Dyarchy". Asian Survey. 32 (7): 617–634. doi:10.2307/2644945. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2644945.
  18. ^ Partner, The Media Group | Publishing (2017-10-28). "Special Report: Daughter of the East 1988-1990/1993-1996". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
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