Baldia Factory JIT Report___Another Foul Play with MQM!

Once again, the Pakistani media is targeting MQM on the basis of a JIT (Joint Interrogation Team) report submitted to the Sindh High Court by Sindh Rangers about the Baldia factory fire case, in which about 258 people got burnt alive in September 2012. In the report, it was claimed that the factory fire was deliberate and members of a political party were behind it.

In their report, Sindh Rangers claimed that the worker arrested MQM last year revealed that the factory blaze was a deliberate act, instead of an incident, after its owner refused to pay an extortion amount. According to the media reports, the suspect (Rizwan Qureshi) claimed that he had obtained all this information from the former sector in-charge of Baldia Town. (http://www.dawn.com/news/1162049/rangers-report-blames-mqm-for-baldia-factory-fire)

Ever since this report came up, MQM has been on the target by not only its political and religious rivals, but also the Pakistani electronic and print media. It seems as if the Sindh Rangers` report is flawless and is, thus, reliable enough for the courts to give its judgment accordingly. However, when we analyze it, there emerge several loopholes that question the credibility of the report. For example:

1-According to the media reports, a sealed (JIT) report was submitted to the Sindh High Court. Then, how did its contents, if true, leak to the media?

2-If it is true that the factory blaze was a deliberate act after its owner refused to pay an extortion amount, then why did the owners and the management of the factory not ever disclose this which could definitely help them avoid all the responsibility and the resulted judicial trials they have been facing since the incident in late 2012?

3-The Sindh Rangers` JIT report looks to be on the basis of the “confession” of an accused only who was, as the media claimed, recently arrested by the Rangers. So the question is where are the findings and the conclusions of their own investigations that the Rangers, Police and other spy agencies had been doing for over two and a half year?

4-More importantly, as quoted in the media (http://www.dawn.com/news/1162049/rangers-report-blames-mqm-for-baldia-factory-fire), the accused (Rizwan Qureshi) claimed that he had obtained all this information from the former sector in-charge of Baldia Town. In other words, his “confession”, or based on what he had heard from someone else. Consequently, the Prime Suspect was himself neither involved in the crime (if the factory fire was not merely an incident) nor did he himself witness putting the factory on fire.

5-On top of it, if, as per the perception (that is totally baseless) of the investigating agencies especially including Sindh Rangers, Rizwan Qureshi really appeared to be a suspect in the 9/11 of Karachi (factory incident), then how did he get released on bail??  His release on bail through court does not prove that the investigating agencies themselves were neither convinced by their own report nor did they have sufficient and reliable evidences against him?

Taking into account the above facts, does the JIT over the Baldia factor fire deserve even to be called an investigation report? But, very surprisingly, the JIT report not only accepted by the Sindh High Court, but also made a part of its record.

Najam Sethi, one of MQM`s biggest critics, in his recent talk show, called this a very weak JIT report and also termed it as an intentional act of hiding reality behind the incident. If Najam Sethi`s analysis is unbiased, it means, ISI, FIA, Police and Rangers, who prepared this report, are involved in hiding the reality. Therefore, in such a scenario, should anyone rely upon these JIT`s anymore? When logically no, what about the resulted allegations on MQM?

The history shows that it is not a new thing that MQM is being accused of being involved in a crime on the basis of the LEA`s (law-enforcement agencies) reports known as JIT`s. From the Major Kaleem kidnap to Jinnah Pur conspiracy and from Hakeem Saeed murder to Salah Uddin (Editor Takbeer magazine)`s assassination, the “interrogation reports” from the “sacred” law-enforcement agencies played a very crucial part to justify the politically motivated victimization of MQM and Urdu speaking community in the name of “bringing culprits to justice” in which about 20,000 people lost their lives. Although in almost all the cases, time brought the reality to light and proved all the accusations “initiated from the LEA`s investigation reports, but neither the compensation was made to the victims nor were the culprits punished for their biased allegations.  

It is also on record that in 2013 the former DG Rangers Sindh Rizwan Akhtar submitted a formal report to the Supreme Court over the Karachi violence case( http://www.dawn.com/news/1039406/dg-rangers-reveals-facts-behind-karachi-weapons-smuggling ) In his report, the DG Rangers claimed that about 19,000 NATO (ISAF) containers, full of sophisticated ammunition, had been stolen from the Karachi port. He accused MQM`s then minister of Port and Shipping Babar Ghouri of being behind it. The head of the Sindh Rangers also informed the Supreme Court that the weapons, of which 9mm pistols on the top, being used in target killings in the city belonged to the same missing containers.

Like the DG Rangers, Advocate General Sindh also informed Supreme Court that the most commonly used weapon for aerial firing to show their happiness the marriage functions in Karachi was of the same stolen containers. On top of it, the ISI`s lawyer Raja Akram endorsed the same. However, very soon the US embassy in Islamabad, through a formal statement, refuted reports that 19,000 NATO containers for International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) were stolen from the Karachi port. It further clarified saying, “While the US routinely uses Karachi ports for both diplomatic and military shipments, neither the United States nor Isaf has ever shipped weapons or ammunition via Karachi ports” ( http://tribune.com.pk/story/600628/missing-containers-case-no-arms-shipments-made-via-karachi-says-us/ ). 

The question is, was any credibility left, after the US`s denial from the US authorities, of what the DG Rangers, government`s advocate and the lawyer of ISI briefed to the Supreme Court?But, instead of taking any action especially under Article 63 and 62 over misguiding the Supreme Court, the same person has been promoted as the DG ISI

In this connection, it is important to know that the well-known journalist and the anchorperson Hamir Mir, categorized as a traditionally anti-MQM journalist, was attacked in Karachi while coming from Islamabad. Luckily, he survived and became able to name ISI and its head DG ISI as the people possibly involved in the attack. Interestingly, the attackers had used the same 9mm pistol to kill Hamid Mir that, according to then DG Rangers, MQM stole. Thanks to God, he survived the attack, otherwise, as per the deliberately created perception, MQM was the planned accused. (http://www.dawn.com/news/1102478 & http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2014/04/140426_hamid_mir_interview_isi_threat_zs.shtml)

All these facts clearly show that the Pakistani law-enforcement agencies are deliberately targeting MQM by preparing baseless reports in the courts.

It is also on record that MQM was charged of having planned to kill Jasmeen Manzoor, an anchorperson like Hamid Mir. This alleged “plan” was also mainly based on the claim form the Police. In Jasmeen`s own words ( http://jasmeen2013.blogspot.com/ ), it was the police of her area who claimed that they had intercepted as call of target killers (allegedly belonging to MQM) with the plan to kill her. But, instead of investigating the police`s claim to know if there was any call really intercepted by the police and that the callers factually pertained to MQM, its political rivals and the Pakistani media kept on maligning it.

In the prevailing scenario, the judgment given in the Karachi lawlessness case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that different political parties including MQM have militant wings, is worth noticing. The SC`s judgment was not the result of the arguments, counter arguments along with the supporting proofs and evidences, rather on the basis of the reports and briefings given to the Supreme Court judges especially in their chamber by the law-enforcement agencies. That was the reason why the judges did not use the phrase “It is proved that …”, but they wrote, “We have been informed that…” Do such investigation reports and the consequent courts` judgment on the same basis, not the absolute violation of the legal and the human rights of MQM and the Karachi-ites?? 

To tell the truth, a JIT report about a crime is a report prepared by the Joint Interrogation Team generally comprising of the officers from Police, Rangers, ISI and FIA., A JIT`s contents remain mere only claims unless and until they are proved true in an independent court with the sufficient, reliable and concrete proofs and evidences. In this respect, an accused will have the right not only to defend him but also to challenge the contents of the reports without any fear. In other words, a JIT is not the Judges Interrogation Team (JIT) report which may be considered as a concluding judgment about an allegation. Rather, it is logically the starting point for a case as it initiates the judicial proceedings or trials for which the courts are set up. Then, how can any conclusions be inferred from a JIT in advance?

I would also like to call attention to a report which legally deserves to be called and accepted as the Judges` Interrogation Team (JIT) report. This JIT, which has the critical importance in the history of Pakistan, is commonly known as Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report under then Chief Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan to hold responsible the people who were behind the fall of Dhaka. The Hamoodur Rahman`s (War Inquiry) Commission in its secret report, held widespread atrocities, other abuses of power by Pakistani generals and a complete failure in civilian and martial-law leadership responsible for the loss of East Pakistan. The report also spoke about killing of thousands of Bangladeshis, rape, pan smuggling, looting of banks in East Pakistan, drunkenness by officers. The report recommended a string of court-martials and trials against top officers.

The question is, can the same military and political establishments, which stand convicted for being involved in the war crimes against Bengalis, be allowed to such important decisions against MQm and another ethnic community Urdu speaking? 

Therefore, it is the need of the hour for all the people and organizations of human rights including the United Nations to take notice of the ethnically motivation victimization from the political and military establishments. MQM and Urdu speaking community have been facing the same for several decades. If the decades on-going genocide is not stopped at the earliest, world may witness another human tragedy.