40 years ago August 20, 1986: Violence spreads in Pakistan

Forty years ago, on August 20, 1986, anti-government protests erupted in Pakistan, swiftly escalating into violence. The army was deployed in Sindh province to quell the unrest against the Zia-ul-Haq government, resulting in at least 26 fatalities thus far. The movement for democracy, known as the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), vowed to launch a campaign to remove General Zia from power and compel the government to hold elections.

Tensions escalated in Sindh province, the stronghold of the opposition, with demonstrators causing damage to railway tracks and buildings. The government faced a dilemma over whether to proceed with the proposed bill to establish a security belt along the entire India-Pakistan border during the current Parliament session.

In a separate incident, a 17-year-old schoolboy, Rajinder Singh, was fatally stabbed by his schoolmates in Babarpur, a trans-Jamuna colony. Gurdip Singh, his younger brother, sustained stab wounds in the attack. The perpetrators, Ashok Kumar and Vishnu Dutt Sharma, also known as Raju, were apprehended by the Shahdara police. Rajinder and Gurdip hailed from a family of masons and had recently completed Class VIII at a local school.

Having only recently transferred to the Government Boys’ Senior Secondary School, Babarpur, they were victims of an act of violence from their peers.