KARACHI: Media asked to provide Nishtar Park blast films
By Shujaat Ali Khan
KARACHI, June 9: The tribunal probing the Nishtar Park blast asked the electronic and print media again on Friday to cooperate with the inquiry and furnish any film or photographs of the April 11 congregation at the park shot before, during or after the explosion.
Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi of the Sindh High Court, who constitutes the tribunal, said the confidentiality of the source and material would be ensured if any organization or individual so desired.
He regretted that the earlier request in this behalf had elicited no response. The tribunal made the fresh call after extensively watching the films produced by police, including the one of the main Eid-i-Milad procession, which converted itself into a public meeting and congregation where the massive explosion killing 52 people occurred at 7.05pm.
According to the statement of one police officer, mediamen were served snack boxes just before the ‘Maghreb’ prayers and were busy eating at the time of the blast.
Maulana Altaf Qadri of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, the complainant in the FIR of the occurrence who was present at the stage at the time of the blast, has, meanwhile, expressed his inability to appear before the tribunal before June 13 as he was proceeding abroad. Maulana Dars, who took out a rally immediately before the main procession, may record his statement on Saturday. The tribunal will further examine ASI Iftikhar Baloch of Soldier Bazaar, who filmed the main procession and congregation on Saturday.
The movie showed little that was not known or shown earlier. Only the sound of the blast and the bedlam that followed could be heard or seen. The viewer could not ascertain the point or place where the blast originated from. It also briefly covered post-blast scenes at Civil Hospital.
Jamshed Town police officer Tahir Naveed, Shah Sirajul Haq Qadri of the Pakistan Sunni Movement, who was also present at the congregation, and his counsel, Advocate Javed Ahmed Chatari elaborated on the various segments of the film and identified the leaders in the procession and on the stage.
The film partially explained and justified the police lapses before and after the blast. The procession was not very well organized. It was more a mass of disorganized people joining or leaving it at will. It consisted of vans, wagons, trucks and people carrying banners on foot and part of the wider festivities that mark the occasion. The leaders of the procession had their own private and police guards and the main police contingents and Rangers squads oversaw its progress from a distance.
There was a stampede to enter the park after the arrival of leaders there. Body search of the processionists was not possible in the circumstances. The organizers and their volunteers surrounded the stage while the policemen remained at a distance. That explains why no policeman was hurt in the blast. Policemen were posted on all the rooftops along the procession route and around the park.
There were two congregations, one on the stage and the other on the ground. There was a wide distance between the two. Shah Turabul Haq Qadri led the prayers on the ground. The stage congregation had just started the ‘sunnat’ prayers while the ground congregation was still performing ‘farz’ when the blast occurred. There was a complete black-out for a short while after the explosion. A projector was installed in the open court to screen the film.
The tribunal also watched movies produced by town police officers of Gulberg, Clifton, Shah Faisal, Baldia and Liaquatabad. They were mostly patchwork hurriedly put together or obtained from movie makers to ensure formal compliance with the tribunal’s order. Two of the films mostly contained ‘naat’ programmes relayed by PTV and QTV.
