10 years after Sabeen Mahmud’s murder, family chooses her legacy over justice

• Mother of slain activist says she devoted all these years to serving people instead of seeking justice solely for Sabeen
• Appeals of five militants sentenced to death by military court in 2016 still pending before high court over jurisdiction issue

KARACHI: Ten years after the murder of prominent social activist Sabeen Mahmud, there seems to be little hope for justice as her family has shifted focus towards carrying forward her legacy instead of seeking accountability.

On April 24, 2015, Sabeen Mahmud was shot dead in a targeted attack as she left The Second Floor (T2F), a literary and cultural space she had founded, after hosting a seminar on the disappearance of political activists in Balochistan.

The Counter-Terrorism Department had arrested five militants after a couple of weeks to the murder and in 2016, a military court handed down death sentence to them. However, even after nine years, the military court’s verdict is yet to be implemented.

Mahenaz Mahmud, mother of the slain activist who accompanied her daughter on the fateful day and suffered bullet wounds, told Dawn when the attack took place, several rights activists and senior lawyers visited her and urged her to pursue the case.

“I asked them, will my efforts fix the justice system of this country? If the answer is yes, I am ready to dedicate 10 to 20 years of my life to it. I want justice for Pakistan, not just for Sabeen,” she said.

She recalled being told that pursuing the case would bring her closure, but she questioned, “Can any mother truly find closure in her lifetime?”

“I felt it was better to devote these years to serving people instead. I have been working on mental health, parenting, and have also worked with women prisoners, conducting sessions where many of them promised me they would show more love and understanding towards the emotions of their own and other prisoners’ children,” she added.

Remembering her bond with her daughter, 74-year-old Mahenaz said it was more like a friendship, adding that Sabeen was a bright young woman whose value system was rooted in honesty and justice.

She dedicated much of her 40 years to working on social issues, and during that time, she would often receive threats, her mother said.

Talking about that fateful day, she recalled: “I hadn’t been to T2F for some time, but that day I felt a strange unease, as if I must go.” Mahenaz, who was in the car when the attack took place, said as their vehicle stopped at a traffic signal near Defence Library, a man got off a motorbike and approached their vehicle driven by Sabeen.

“At first, I thought they intended to mug us,” she said. “But moments later, the shooter pulled out a weapon and fired five shots,” she added.

Sabeen suffered multiple bullet wounds and died on way to the hospital. Her mother also suffered a single bullet wound.

Five months later, Constable Ghulam Abbas, a key witness in the murder case, was gunned down in the Korangi area.

‘Killed for being a liberal voice’

CTD official Raja Umar Khattab, who arrested the killers and interrogated them, told Dawn that the militant group held extremist views, while Sabeen was a liberal voice.

He said that the held militants were involved in several terrorist activities, including Safoora bus carnage, attack on an American educationist as well as Bohra community, and they selected their targets to send a broader message to a specific community.

“Sabeen’s assassination aimed at sending a warning to all NGOs,” he said.

Quoting their statements, the CTD official said that the militants told him that they targeted Sabeen because she had organised a Valentine’s Day rally and had once delivered a speech in front of a poster belonging to a religio-political party.

Convicts’ pleas pending adjudication at SHC for years

Following 21st Amendment to the Constitution, the five militants were tried by a special military tribunal that handed down death sentence to them in 2016.

However, they filed appeals in the military court in Rawalpindi and then approached the Lahore High Court which declined to hear the matter due to lack of jurisdiction, according to their counsel Hashmat Habib.

He told Dawn when the Supreme Court was approached, it too refused to entertain the matter. Later, five identical constitutional petitions were moved before the Sindh High Court, which are still pending adjudication on the matter of jurisdiction, he added.

Speaking about an inordinate delay in deciding the petitions, the senior counsel said the petitions remained pending in the SHC as the Supreme Court was hearing an identical case. “The outcome of that case will determine the jurisdiction of appeal,” he explained.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2025