I was not
surprised at all to read Babar Sattar`s (well-known lawyer) column in the Dawn
News criticizing MQM, as I had already listened to his similar views in TV talk
shows. But, it is necessary to respond to his accusation on MQM. (http://www.dawn.com/news/1160870/legal-and-moral-abyss)
Yes, it is true
that Saulat Mirza, former MQM worker, got convicted by an anti-terror court and
was handed the death sentence in 1999 for the murder of MD KESC, Shahid Hamid
who was murdered in 1997. But, Baber Sattar has either deliberately skipped or
perhaps is not aware of the fact that Saulat Mirza was portrayed as a high
profile murderer by the Pakistani LEA`s (Law-Enforcement Agencies) and media,
not because of the assassination of MD KESC, but due to the confession of the
murder of then MQM`s Secretary General Dr. Imran Farooq.
In 1997, the
law-enforcement agencies which were conducting a so-called “indiscriminate” operation in Karachi against criminals
claimed that they had arrested one MQM worker (Saulat Mirza) who confessed that
he, along with his other group members, had killed Dr. Imran Farooq and buried
him in the hills of Balochistan. As per the “volunteer” confession in the police custody,
Saulat Mirza was further mad to claim that MQM`s chief Altaf Hussain had
ordered him to do all that as a result of his serious conflicts with the
deceased. The state-run television (PTV) also aired the footage of the place in
Balochistan where Dr. Imran Farooq was buried.
It should be kept
in mind that MQM`s founding member Dr. Imran Farooq had remained in hiding ever
since the militants of Haqiqi group were deployed in Karachi under the military
cover in June 1992. Saulat Mirza`s press conference organized in the custody of
law-enforcement agencies, created serious concerns about the life of Dr.
Farooq. Although, MQM`s chief Altaf Hussain altogether denied that allegation
and claimed that he was not only alive, but also in contact with him. As usual,
none of his rivals believed him. Soon, all the prevailing doubts automatically
evaporated in late 1999 when Dr. Imran Farooq safely reached to London and
joined hands with Altaf Hussain. The joint press conferees of Dr. Imran Farooq
and Altaf Hussain brought to light several facts about the “confession-cum-allegation” (which I personally consider as a
rehearsal of Dr. Imran Farooq`s actual murder in 2011), such as:
1-Dr. Imran
Farooq was alive in contrast to the Police claim and the confession of Saulat
Mirza;
2-There were no “serious
conflicts” between his leader Altaf Hussain and him as was propagated;
3-Saulat Mirza`s
“volunteer” confession of
killing Dr. Farooq on Altaf Hussain`s order was a blatant lie, and
4-The
investigation-based claims from Pakistani LEA`s proved to be totally baseless
and politically motivated.
Taking into
account these undeniable facts, was there any credibility left about the
investigations of the LEA`s and the accused`s confessions made after their
arrests anymore? Let me thank God that Dr. Imran Farooq safely managed to go
out of Pakistan that time to join his leader Altaf Hussain, otherwise, instead
of MD KESC, Saulat Mirza could have been sentenced to death over his murder. In
fact, had such a blatant lie got exposed in any civilized country of the world,
not speaking of the responsible officers, even the heads could have been sent
to jail.
Haider Abbas
Rizvi of MQM seems to be well-justified when he says, “Regarding Saulat Mirza`s
case, we want to ensure that he cannot be punished for an act that he did not
commit or just because of the reason that he used to work for MQM”. So, does
anyone, including Baber Sattar, deserve to object to MQM`s concerns about
Saulat Mirza`s execution who got accused and convicted in a controversial
scenario?
Unlike the
impression that Babar Sattar gave in his column, MQM always extended its
support to the operations launched in Karachi in the name of restoring peace
saying, “Bring the culprits to justice no matter even if he somehow
belongs to MQM”. MQM leadership always stuck to its very loud and clear
stand despite the fact that all its political and principally backed operations
hit it below the belt as a result of which, thousands of its voters and workers
got extra-judicially killed. In addition, even the presently on-going operation
in Karachi was also launched on its demand, but like in the past, MQM has
turned out to be the biggest target of the LEA`s. Considering these bitter
facts, can MQM be blamed of defending criminals anyway?
It is MQM which
has already lost about 20,000 supporters in the name of maintaining law &
order of the city of which hundreds of them were brutally killed in the LEA`s
custody. According to the deceased`s families, many of the dead bodies had been
badly mutilated. The question is does the Constitution of Pakistan or the
prevailing laws in the country permit the state and its under-controlled
agencies to torture any accused to death without taking him to the courts? Did
Babar Sattar ever express his “unbiased” and “fair” legal opinion over this issue too?
Question is what motivated the law-enforcement agencies to extra-judicially
kill and even disfigure the accused`s dead bodies? Was such brutality against
Urdu speaking community the result of LEA`s political rivalry, ethnic hatred or
perhaps a mixture of both, would Mr. Sattar like to answer?
It is on record
that MQM kept on calling attention of all the people concerned including heads
of state, lawyers` associations, High and Supreme Courts, political and
religious parties as well as the civil society towards the politically and
ethnically-based victimization of the Karachi-ites. But, nobody came forward to
even condemn it. Rather, they advised MQM to go to the courts to get its issues
resolved saying,”Judiciary is independent and it is the right forum to seek
justice from”. However, very interestingly, in 2007 all these people came out
on roads with the slogan of “independence of judiciary”. Leaders of the
movement explained the motive of their movement saying, “The judiciary in
Pakistan has been enslaved for last sixty years and we want to free it.”
Logically, if the
Pakistani judiciary had really been enslaved or used as a rubber stamp during
the last 60 years by the rulers of the time as claimed by the lawyers and
judges, then do the judgments given during the period of judiciary`s slavery,
including the one in Saulat Mirza`s case, not morally and legally lose their
grounds? Did, at least, controversial judgments not need to be reviewed?
Shamelessly,
there has been a complete silence over this very important matter! Truly
speaking, had any movement, like the lawyers` movement in Pakistan, been staged
and become so popular anywhere in the world in the name of independence of
judiciary, all the previous judgments would have been declared null and void
immediately after the success of the movement. But, in Pakistan, instead of
demanding to reopen the cases, flag bearers of independence of judiciary, like
Babar Sattar, are demanding to implement the judgments given in the darkest period
of judiciary?
How strange is
that a well-reputed lawyer, Babar Sattar, is criticizing the 21st
Amendment (which was passed by the Pakistani parliament in order to deal with
the Taliban terrorists), but he has no words against the on-going ethnically-motivated
victimization against MQM?? Is his silence not an act of defending what is
going on in Karachi? Truly speaking, when it comes to MQM and Karachi-ites,
Babar Stattar`s own words seem to be coming true that “these divergent
facts and details portray the picture of a state and society that has fallen
into a legal and moral abyss”
Any video or newspaper clip for the support of your statement " In 1997, the law-enforcement agencies which were conducting a so-called “indiscriminate” operation in Karachi against criminals claimed that they had arrested one MQM worker (Saulat Mirza) who confessed that he, along with his other group members, had killed Dr. Imran Farooq and buried him in the hills of Balochistan. As per the “volunteer” confession in the police custody, Saulat Mirza was further mad to claim that MQM`s chief Altaf Hussain had ordered him to do all that as a result of his serious conflicts with the deceased. The state-run television (PTV) also aired the footage of the place in Balochistan where Dr. Imran Farooq was buried.
ReplyDeleteThe parents of Dr. Imran Farooq are still alive. The confirmation can be sought from them too
ReplyDelete