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| India-Pakistan |
| Attacks and amnesia |
| 2014-04-27 |
| [DAWN] THE faith we Paks repose in judicial commissions would have been funny had it not been so pathetic. It's almost like an adult announcing his belief in djinns and fairies. Consider: the universal reaction across the country after the recent murderous attack on Hamid Mir in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... was to demand -- you guessed it -- a judicial commission. The government promptly complied, and the chief justice nominated three judges for the task of investigating the shooting. I have no doubt that all three judges are fine, upstanding members of their respective benches. But to expect them to actually determine who was behind the attack is a bit like waiting for Inspector Clouseau to morph into Sherlock Holmes. Just to put things into perspective, when Saleem Shahzad, a brave investigative news hound, was kidnapped, tortured and killed in 2011, allegations about the ISI's involvement had surfaced. Following an uproar in the media, a judicial commission was set up under Justice Saqib Nisar. After weeks of deliberations, the commission submitted its report on Jan 10, 2012. In the conclusion, it blamed "various belligerents in the war on terror which included the Pak state and non-state actors such as the Taliban and Al Qaeda and foreign actors". There the matter has rested ever since to the best of my knowledge. Obviously, these vague findings hardly lend themselves to arrests and prosecution. And so it has always been. From Liaquat Ali Khan to Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... , many politicians have been assassinated without the nation being any wiser about who was behind these killings. We still don't know who to honour for ridding us of Gen Zia. If a PPP government couldn't find out who orchestrated Benazir Bhutto's murder during its five-year term, can we really expect a judicial commission to identify those behind the attack on Hamid Mir? But actually, Zardari's government didn't ever look as if this was a priority. |
| Posted by:Fred |