Suo motu notice on murder of Shahzeb Khan: Another success of social media

Social media has once again played a pivotal role in mobilizing masses against the cold blooded murder of Shahzeb Khan at the hand of a couple of feudal lords.

It successfully stimulated the mainstream media, prompting Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary to take suo motu notice of the incident.

Who was Shahzeb Khan? There was little or no news about him on mainstream media but through social media, the face of this young 20-year-old has become a symbol of hope against Pakistan’s powerful feudal-elites, who live with impunity, above the law.

Currently, Pakistan’s social media is overflowing with Shahzeb photos with words of sympathy and tributes to the young student who was murdered on 25^th December, 2012 in Karachi near his apartment.

Reports said Shahzeb was shot dead by two young men from feudal backgrounds Nawab Siraj Talpur and Shahrukh Jatoi, who were with their armed guards.

Before the shooting, a small argument erupted between Shahzeb and Talpur, after one of Talpur’s employees passed a lewd comment at Shahzeb’s sister. Shahzeb’s father Aurangzeb, a police officer, quickly resolved the dispute. But later that day, Talpur and his friend came back with vengeance on their minds and guns in their hands and eventually killed Shahzeb Khan, the only son of his parents.

The news spread and took over the entire nation like wildfire. Within a couple of days of the incident, “In Memory of Shahzeb Khan” had more than 50,000 subscribers.

The friends and family of the deceased announced a protest to be held on December 30, 2012, simultaneously in Karachi and Lahore. Social Media was taken over and #JusticeForShahzebKhan (initially) and #Justice4ShahzebKhan at a later stage, seemed to be the only thing the nation had to talk about.

They made it clear that the protest was not merely for Shahzeb but for a greater cause to fight injustice and inequality in Pakistan.  The campaign for “Justice to Shahzeb” is a beacon of light for justice, a voice for the hundreds of thousands of unknown fallen victims of Karachi.

The media landscape has rapidly transformed during last ten years. Gone are the days when you read stuff on newspaper and magazine, watch news or documentary on television. We are living in a time where often news is broke over Twitter way before any news channel.

Let us use this social capital for something meaningful. Technology is already here, waiting for its deployment.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=36769

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jan 1 2013. Filed under Opinion, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.