Saulat Mirza`s New Confession__ An Attempt To Save Taliban

The convicted person, Saulat Mirza who and his family had been trying to call the attention of the people concerned towards the prevailing loop holes in the case against him, gets special attention suddenly and even his execution has been postponed. The cause of such a dramatic development was the new video “confession” of Saulat Mirza which was aired on all Pakistani TV channels just few hours before of his execution. As soon as they received the suspiciously made and released video, Pakistani TV channels started live broadcasting Saulat Mirza`s confession in which he put so many serious charges on MQM leadership from top to bottom.

Logically, if Saulat Mirza`s latest confession had really had any credibility, it could have come up during the judicial proceedings of his case or also at some point of last 17 years he spent in the jail among the police. Surprisingly, he also “revealed” some “inside” information of the happenings which took place in his absence (i.e., during the period of his imprisonment). Question is, in the scenario when even on-ground and neutral political analysts are not aware of the background of the occurrences, how can a so-long jailed person be able to share all that so confidently?     

As per the media reports, Saulat Mirza, a former MQM worker, was arrested and, later on, convicted in the murder of ex-MD KESC Shahid Hamid in 1999. His wife claimed that at the time of the crime, he was with her (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2jx0bn_press-conference-of-saulat-mirza-s-wifi-which-was-never-on-aired-on-television_news?start=318). Therefore, being impossible for him to be at two different places at a time, there was no logic to book him in the case. She and her lawyers also argued that the deceased`s widow (on the basis of whose witness, Saulat Mirza was convicted) gave two different statements to the police. According to them, Shahid Hamid`s wife claimed that when she heard the firing and came out of her home to see what happened, she found the dead bodies of her husband, guard and the driver. In other words, she did not accept that she had seen the person who killed her husband. However, later on, she started claiming that she did witness the killer and recognized Saulat Mirza as the culprit.

Since the day Saulat Mirza was arrested in 1999, about four confessions have come up by now. For all, the law-enforcement agencies (EA`s) claimed, were volunteer. When we compare these with each other, there emerge different contradictions. For example, if Saulat Mirza`s first confession was without any pressure, why did he disown his own words in the court saying he was forced to accept what he did not commit? Secondly, in his one more confession which was “leaked” through a video in 2007, he said that he killed MD KESC on the instruction of MQM`s chief that he received via Dr. Nadeem Nusrat. However, in the recent confession video “leaked” from the death cell, he says that had received that order through Babar Khan Ghouri.

It is also to be noticed that, while “revealing” the cause of murder in his first confession, he stated that Shahid Hamid was killed because of the reason that he was working with International Monetary Fund (IMF) for obtaining a loan for Pakistan. Such a logically irrelevant cause of murder seems to be nothing, but absolute absurdity.

More importantly, Saulat Mirza`s 2<sup>nd</sup> confession was in an officially facilitated press conference in 1999, in which he revealed that on the order of MQM`s chief Altaf Hussain, he had killed Dr. Imran Farooq and buried his dead body in the hills of Baluchistan. The Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) also aired the footage of the place where he was buried. It should be kept in mind that it was the same period when MQM was facing an operation, like today, and almost all its works and leaders, including Dr. Imran Farooq, had gone underground as per the party`s policy. Soon, after such a big claim from Saulat Mirza, MQM`s chief Altaf Hussain denied the allegation and informed that Dr. Imran Farooq was not only alive, but also in touch with him.

However, as usual, despite Altaf Hussain`s clarification, Pakistani media, analysts and rival politicians were of the view that Dr. Imran Farooq had really been killed by MQM. But, very luckily, Dr. Imran Farooq safely reached in UK at MQM`s secretariat and met Altaf Hussain which proved that all Saulat Mirza`s confession about Dr. IF`s murder and difference with MQM`s chief were baseless.

Taking into account all this, is there any credibility left in Saulat Mirza`s in-custody statements anymore? Even, for instance, if we assume that all his confessions were not the result of any pressure or torture, but volunteer, then should he have not shared all the “facts” once in a detailed statement instead of releasing it like new episodes of a drama serial?
It is also argued by MQM`s rivals that the new “confession” has more importance as it is the statement from a dying person. If this logic is true, what is the importance of all his previous claims that were not the statements of a “dying person”?  As per the media reports, the Pakistani authorities are planning to reopen the Saulat Mirza`s case in the light of his new statement. If such a step is taken on this basis, it would legally make all the investigation in the case, judicial process and the resulted capital punishment quite dubious.

We know that the matter of taking actions against Taliban groups with sincerity has been dubious from the beginning in spite of having lost over 50,000 Pakistanis to their hands. Several times Pakistan clarified that they were no good Taliban or bad Taliban for them, but ground reality seemed different. After the APS (Army Public School) tragedy in Peshawar in which over 130 innocent children were brutally killed by Taliban terrorists, people started feeling that the Pakistani forces would now seriously target them.

But, when we see the favorable judgment coming in favor of Lakhvi (master mind of Mombai attack), new peace deals (settlements) with Taliban (Jihadi) groups in tribal areas, and at the same time, MQM (which is well-known for its bold stance against religious terrorism and radicalization in the country) being victimized, it clearly shows that the Pakistani establishment is still backing Taliban groups and wants to remove the only remaining hurdle (MQM) resisting their way. 
This implies that the Pakistan and its citizens are likely to face more religious extremism and the 
resulted terrorism in the days to come. Though MQM is planning to approach the international court of justice over all the allegations against it especially through Saulat Mirza, but the on-going operation targeting MQM has explicitly exposed the policy of the Pakistani military establishment before the entire world.