Dawn: It could have been just another ordinary patient arriving at an eye clinic for treatment.
Abdul Rauf, a 20-something resident of Badami Bagh Lahore, took his father to Dr. Ali Haider’s clinic. A delay at the clinic ticked him off to such an extent that he planned to kill Dr Ali Haider. A few days later, Abdul Rauf and accomplices murdered Dr Haider and his 11-year old son near the entrance of F.C. College.
But this is not the complete story.
Abdul Rauf was driven by sectarian hatred. The realisation that the very eye doctor he brought his father for treatment to was a Shia, blinded Abdul Rauf with sectarian rage. So strong was the hatred that the attackers did not spare the 11-year old Murtaza, who was being driven to school by his father.
Also read: Murtaza Haider is dead, does anyone care?
The Punjab Police has recently arrested the gang responsible for 16 sectarian murders and several other attempts on life, of mostly Shia professionals in Lahore. Journalist Raza Rumi, who survived the attack in which his driver died, was targeted by the same gang that killed Dr. Haider and his son. The six-member gang has ties to the usual suspects of sectarian warfare in Punjab.
Categories: Asia