Written by: Dr. Saba Noor
Posted on: May 09, 2023 | 
| 中文
Dr. Ajmal Sawand with his family
Parts of rural Pakistan have been embroiled in tribal feuds and vendetta killings for decades, despite the rise in the rate of literacy and modernization. Conflicts are usually nourished by long running cycles of violence that usually result in blood feuds. Rural areas of Sindh are particularly embroiled in such primitive tribal vendettas.
The tension between the Sundrani and Sawand communities (two communities living in Sindh) emerged in 2022, when a girl from Sundrani clan eloped and married a boy from Sawand tribe. As the deep-rooted notion of ‘ghairat’ (honor) of the Sundrani tribe was insulted by the Sawands, Sundrani tribe killed the boy who had married the girl from their tribe, while the whereabouts of the girl are still not known. This killing prompted a series of vendettas that have resulted in seven deaths so far, and if it not stopped, can cause further fatalities.
One such case emerged recently in Sindh, with the brutal and uncalled for murder of an Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Sukkur professor, Dr. Ajmal Sawand. It made the headlines causing a great deal of consternation and distress to Pakistani society. Dr. Ajmal Sawand belonged to the Sawand tribe that had a feud with their rival Sundrani tribe, but it is noteworthy that Dr. Sawand or his immediate family had nothing to do with the tribal conflict. However, he was an unwitting and an innocent victim of this mindless feud.
Dr. Sawand and his father
Dr Ajmal Sawand, an Assistant Professor at IBA Sukkur, was gunned down on 6th of April when he was travelling from his village in Kandhkot (a city in the district Kashmore) to Sukkur. Locals said that the slain doctor’s corpse was left unclaimed on the road for hours until police came and investigated the crime. The extent of fear is such that people hesitate from helping the wounded or covering dead bodies in such situations. Moreover, some sources suggest that the doctor was accompanied by his brother, and then the question arises that if Dr Sawand and his brother were travelling together, why did they only target the doctor and not his brother? It has been argued that, perverse as it may sound, in tribal feuds, they target the most capable and qualified amongst their opponents.
Dr. Sawand speaking at a conference
Dr Sawand was a resident of Shawli, a village in Kandhkot, a city in Kashmore district of Sindh. He completed his foundational education from a well-known college of Pakistan, “Cadet College Larkana”. He then did his bachelors in software engineering from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) and graduated in 2006. He completed his degree of Master’s in Computer Science from France in 2011. While working as an Assistant Professor and being a research associate at the University of Paris Descartes, he completed his doctorate and was awarded the PhD degree in 2015. He had many research articles to his name, and was currently working on “Hybrid energy model for efficient utilization of renewable energy sources in Pakistan”.
Dr. Sawand delivering a lecture in France
Doctor Sawand was living a comfortable and a happy life with his family, had two sons and his wife is expecting another child. At a time when the economic conditions in Pakistan are so dire, Dr Sawand, who was being paid more than 30,000 Pakistani rupees for an hour’s lecture in France, came back to serve and transform his country for the better.
Dr. Sawand's kids
What Dr. Sawand’s killing reveals is the desperate need for social reform in our society, especially so in our rural areas. Deep-rooted cultural traditions such as honor killing, Karo Kari (honor killing, for being involved in sexual intercourse outside marriage), and vendettas have no place in any civilized society, and which are forbidden in Islam. It is important to take strong punitive measures against those who practice karo kari, otherwise this un-Islamic practice will continue.
Dr. Sawand, despite being a renowned professor in one of the prestigious universities of Sindh, his murderers are still at large. The deceased’s brother Muhammad Ashraf Sawand lodged an FIR (First Information Report), but after more than a month, no progress has been made. Teachers from several universities have protested against Dr. Sawand’s murder and observed a black day, but to no avail. This case is strangely reminiscent of the murder of Nazim Jokhio, which was also covered up by the influentials of the area.
Protest outside Press Club Karachi against Dr. Sawand's murder
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