Writ of the state
It was shocking to hear the news of SP Tahir Dawar’s martyrdom. Dawar was kidnapped from Islamabad on October 26 and his dead body found in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. The government did not make much noise about it, which is unbelievable given that a valiant police officer was kidnapped from the capital city. Not only did the government not make any noise but as per Iftikhar Durrani, Special Assistant to Prime Minister of Pakistan on Media, he was given information by the police that SP Dawar was back in Peshawar on October 28. Mr Durrani gave a beeper to VoA on October 28 and claimed that SP Dawar was safe and sound. If it is indeed true and the police had misinformed the government, action must be taken against those who filed this fake report.
How was a serving police officer kidnapped from the capital and then his kidnappers managed to cross the border into Afghanistan without being noticed? Did the government investigate properly why he was kidnapped? How come the government did not know he had been taken to Afghanistan? When news of his death broke out, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi called it ‘fake news’. Well, the real fake news was spread by the PTI’s own government. Questions must be raised by every citizen of Pakistan regarding the government’s incompetence and insensitivity regarding Dawar’s kidnapping and subsequent martyrdom by unknown militants.
Senior journalist Mubashir Zaidi tweeted: “Just for a moment imagine if #TahirDawar had been a military officer would the government be responding in such a callous manner?”
Mr Zaidi is not wrong in asking this question. Are martyred police officers children of a lesser God? The attitude of the government during the three weeks when he went missing and till his dead body was found is shameful to say the least. Now the government is making tall claims that it will leave no stone unturned to find out his killers. Unfortunately, the government’s claims sound like a damp squib.
We have not forgotten how this government recently surrendered to the demands of a violent mob that had paralysed life in the country after the Aasia Bibi verdict. Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the nation the same evening as the verdict and gave a stern warning to those challenging the writ of the state. Two days later, his government signed an agreement with the same elements. So how can we trust a government in hunting down the killers of SP Dawar when the same government gave in to protestors whose leadership had given a call for mutiny against the army chief and asked for the murder of the judges who set Aasia Bibi free? It is an extremely worrying trends that over the decades, governments – both civil and military – have been unable to rein in extremist forces. Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) raised an important point in his recent speech on the floor of the house. He asked what was the point of Article 17(2) of the Constitution of Pakistan if we continue to tolerate a political party that talks about creating anarchy in the country and if we will not use this Article.
Article 17(2) reads: “… subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan and such law shall provide that where the Federal Government declares that any political party has been formed or is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, the Federal Government shall, within fifteen days of such declaration, refer the matter to the Supreme Court whose decision on such reference shall be final.”
Senator Khokhar mentioned how a registered political party crossed the red line and no action had been taken. He said we may as well scrap this Article from our Constitution if we didn’t want to implement it.
Speaking of the Aasia Bibi case, we must not forget how there are other blasphemy accused languishing in Pakistani prisons whose cases are similar to that of Aasia’s. One such case is that of Bahauddin Zakariya University’s former visiting faculty member Junaid Hafeez. It has been five years since Hafeez has been under trial for alleged blasphemy. Daily Times noted in its editorial: “That Hafeez’s case is politically motivated is beyond doubt to all those who’re aware of the history of our university campuses…Right-wing student groups have been used for this purpose by various regimes. It was one such group, notorious for its moral policing of campuses, that was involved in raising allegations against Hafeez as well. And a few months after the case went to trial, Hafeez’s former counsel Advocate Rashid Rahman was assassinated by two unidentified gunmen in his office.”
When we talk of human rights in Pakistan, we must talk about such cases as well. Aasia Bibi lost nine years of her life due to a false accusation. Her family – especially her daughters – lost the love and care of their mother due to those false allegations. Who will return these nine invaluable years to Aasia and her family? Who will be punished for taking away her freedom? After the gruesome murder of Mashal Khan due to false blasphemy allegations, we should have had a debate over these laws. Instead, our state keeps on giving in to the extremist forces, which in turn has made this country into a more intolerant one. Let’s hope that after the Aasia Bibi verdict, our honourable courts will hear Junaid Hafeez’s case and justice will be served.
(Originally published in Truth Tracker)
How was a serving police officer kidnapped from the capital and then his kidnappers managed to cross the border into Afghanistan without being noticed? Did the government investigate properly why he was kidnapped? How come the government did not know he had been taken to Afghanistan? When news of his death broke out, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi called it ‘fake news’. Well, the real fake news was spread by the PTI’s own government. Questions must be raised by every citizen of Pakistan regarding the government’s incompetence and insensitivity regarding Dawar’s kidnapping and subsequent martyrdom by unknown militants.
Senior journalist Mubashir Zaidi tweeted: “Just for a moment imagine if #TahirDawar had been a military officer would the government be responding in such a callous manner?”
Mr Zaidi is not wrong in asking this question. Are martyred police officers children of a lesser God? The attitude of the government during the three weeks when he went missing and till his dead body was found is shameful to say the least. Now the government is making tall claims that it will leave no stone unturned to find out his killers. Unfortunately, the government’s claims sound like a damp squib.
We have not forgotten how this government recently surrendered to the demands of a violent mob that had paralysed life in the country after the Aasia Bibi verdict. Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the nation the same evening as the verdict and gave a stern warning to those challenging the writ of the state. Two days later, his government signed an agreement with the same elements. So how can we trust a government in hunting down the killers of SP Dawar when the same government gave in to protestors whose leadership had given a call for mutiny against the army chief and asked for the murder of the judges who set Aasia Bibi free? It is an extremely worrying trends that over the decades, governments – both civil and military – have been unable to rein in extremist forces. Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) raised an important point in his recent speech on the floor of the house. He asked what was the point of Article 17(2) of the Constitution of Pakistan if we continue to tolerate a political party that talks about creating anarchy in the country and if we will not use this Article.
Article 17(2) reads: “… subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan and such law shall provide that where the Federal Government declares that any political party has been formed or is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, the Federal Government shall, within fifteen days of such declaration, refer the matter to the Supreme Court whose decision on such reference shall be final.”
Senator Khokhar mentioned how a registered political party crossed the red line and no action had been taken. He said we may as well scrap this Article from our Constitution if we didn’t want to implement it.
Speaking of the Aasia Bibi case, we must not forget how there are other blasphemy accused languishing in Pakistani prisons whose cases are similar to that of Aasia’s. One such case is that of Bahauddin Zakariya University’s former visiting faculty member Junaid Hafeez. It has been five years since Hafeez has been under trial for alleged blasphemy. Daily Times noted in its editorial: “That Hafeez’s case is politically motivated is beyond doubt to all those who’re aware of the history of our university campuses…Right-wing student groups have been used for this purpose by various regimes. It was one such group, notorious for its moral policing of campuses, that was involved in raising allegations against Hafeez as well. And a few months after the case went to trial, Hafeez’s former counsel Advocate Rashid Rahman was assassinated by two unidentified gunmen in his office.”
When we talk of human rights in Pakistan, we must talk about such cases as well. Aasia Bibi lost nine years of her life due to a false accusation. Her family – especially her daughters – lost the love and care of their mother due to those false allegations. Who will return these nine invaluable years to Aasia and her family? Who will be punished for taking away her freedom? After the gruesome murder of Mashal Khan due to false blasphemy allegations, we should have had a debate over these laws. Instead, our state keeps on giving in to the extremist forces, which in turn has made this country into a more intolerant one. Let’s hope that after the Aasia Bibi verdict, our honourable courts will hear Junaid Hafeez’s case and justice will be served.
(Originally published in Truth Tracker)
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