These Pakistanis Are Demanding Justice For Racist Policing (HBO)

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Aspiring model Naqeebullah Mehsud was murdered in January by the Karachi police. His death prompted thousands of Pashtuns, Pakistan’s biggest ethnic minority, to demand justice.

In early February, sit-ins lasted for over a week in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. Eventually protests spread nationwide and even reached neighboring Afghanistan, where Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group.

Pashtun activism prompted the government to respond to concerns. On February 16th, Pakistan’s Chief Justice ordered the arrest of Rao Anwar - the police superintendent who is believed to be responsible for Mehsud’s murder.

Nearly 30 million Pashtuns live in Pakistan. Since 9-11, many have fled violence in their ethnic homelands near the Afghan border for safety in the cities, as government anti-terror operations prompted violence with the Taliban.

But, many Pashtuns in Pakistan believe their community is systematically victimized by racist policing and profiling.

“We don’t want anyone else to be martyred as Naqeebullah was. We are fed up, We won’t tolerate any more dead bodies,” said Noor Rehman Mehsud, Naqeebullah Mehsud’s cousin.

While the Pashtun protests have wound down — the police superintendent still remains at large, and other demands levied by protestors, including the removal of landmines, accounting for “disappeared” persons by the Pakistani military, and ending security checks and curfews in Pashtun tribal homelands have yet to be addressed.

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