A storm of anger has erupted in Sindh following the police-led burial of Irfan Ali Laghari, a nationalist worker who died from gunshot wounds during clashes with police on May 20. Laghari passed away in a Hyderabad hospital on May 23, but police buried his body the very next day at a graveyard in Moro without handing it over to his family, sparking widespread condemnation.
Family members and nationalist leaders accused the police of bypassing legal and cultural norms by conducting the burial under heavy security, fueling accusations of harsh and unprecedented treatment. Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon defended police actions, claiming multiple attempts were made to return the body, but the family allegedly refused unless demands for police accountability and release of arrested protesters were met.
However, the Sessions Judge of Naushero Feroze issued a show cause notice to the police for falsely claiming court permission to bury the body, clarifying no such authorization was ever granted. The court ordered the body be handed over to the legal heirs or an NGO, dismissing social media rumors that the deceased had no heirs.
In the meantime, nationalist factions condemned the government’s handling of the situation and accused authorities of using the incident to justify a crackdown on peaceful protests, escalating tensions further across the region.