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THE three cold-blooded murders that shook the nation last week had no links with each other. Yet those three separate incidents have something in common. A young schoolgirl killed and her body burnt (there are also reports she was burnt alive) in Abbottabad on the orders of a local jirga for helping her friend run away from home; a political activist tortured to death in custody by Rangers in Karachi; and a rights activist gunned down in the metropolis by an unknown assailant.
Sixteen-year-old Ambreen was yet another victim killed in the name of honour; Aftab Ahmed is the latest addition to the long list of custodial murders by the security agencies; and Khurram Zaki is the newest casualty of what appears to be religiously inspired militancy that he had dared to challenge. While the reasons behind these gruesome acts are different, they manifest a culture of violence perpetrated not only by groups and individuals but also by the security forces. Most worrying, however, is the tolerance of and indifference towards such heinous crimes.
It was certainly not the first or the last case of a girl being killed in the name of honour. But the cruelty reported in the case of Ambreen is unheard of even in this country where life comes cheap. She was dragged from her home, injected with sedatives, strangled, her body tied up in a van and then burned. It was a gruesome murder in which some of her family members were also believed to be complicit.
More than a dozen people have been arrested in connection with the crime. But the most important thing is what the administration does to prevent such brutality from occurring again. There is not much to show for the government’s resolve to make an example of the murderers.
Law-enforcement agencies are not expected to resort to the same methods as criminals and terrorists.
Just as brutal was the death of Aftab Ahmed, an MQM activist in the custody of the Rangers. The pictures of the dead man circulated on social media showed terrible bruises and abrasions all over and toenails pulled out. It was hard for any human to have survived such extreme brutality. He had already succumbed to torture when he was brought to the hospital. After initial silence, Rangers officials conceded that he had been tortured.
Ahmed was arrested a few weeks ago and was remanded in the Rangers custody for 90 days. But over the past year, Karachi has seen tortured bodies being dumped in desolate places after ‘disappearing’, a euphemism for being taken away by the security and intelligence agencies. Many are still missing. There is a criminal silence over those mutilated bodies.
It was hard for the Rangers to refute the allegation of torture after Aftab Ahmed’s post-mortem report. The chief of army staff has ordered an inquiry and those involved in the interrogation have reportedly been suspended. But is this enough? Could security personnel employ torture during interrogation without the approval of their superior? The DG Rangers said that paramilitary personnel had violated the rules. But it was not the only case of torture. What about the mutilated bodies of ‘missing persons’? The responsibility lies at the top.
There is no denying that the Rangers have done a great job in bringing some kind of normality back to Karachi. But the extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances mitigate the good work. Hundreds of people have been killed in so-called encounters that include alleged TTP militants, members of the Lyari gang war and MQM activists.
It may be true that many of them were involved in crimes and terrorist activities. But they must have some identity too. Why are the names of those killed in encounters never made public along with their criminal records? Any deviation from human rights that are enshrined in the country’s Constitution fuels lawlessness.
Surely the MQM, particularly its militant wing, has been involved in the violence that turned Karachi into a killing field. But incidents like the custodial death of Aftab Ahmed and the dumping of tortured bodies feed into the party’s victimhood image. Law-enforcement agencies are not expected to resort to the same methods as criminals and terrorists. The misuse of the sweeping powers given to the security agencies under the National Action Plan could defeat their purpose. These powers have been granted for fighting terrorists and lawbreakers, and not for terrorising ordinary citizens.
Furthermore, the involvement of the intelligence agencies in political manipulation makes the situation more complicated. Such tactics had failed in the past and certainly cannot succeed in the future. Those involved in any criminal and anti-state activities must be brought to justice.
Custodial killings and media trials do not provide a solution to the Karachi problem. Such actions only strengthen the culture of violence and further shrink the space for sane and moderate voices. One glaring example is the murder of rights campaigner Khurram Zaki. He was gunned down at a restaurant where he was sitting with his friends. A TTP faction reportedly claimed responsibility for the murder as revenge for his campaign to have Maulana Aziz of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid arrested.
An Islamic scholar, Khurram Zaki stood fast against militancy and sectarianism. For that he paid with his blood. He was shot dead two weeks after the first death anniversary of Sabeen Mahmud, another brave rights activist, and days after Aftab Ahmed succumbed to the extreme torture inflicted on him while he was in the Rangers’ custody.
There is surely no connection between the two deaths in the city. Nevertheless, it raises the question as to how the extremists continue to operate in Karachi, despite the claim that TTP cells in the city have been wiped out. No one has been arrested so far for the murder of Khurram Zaki and perhaps the internal investigation against the Rangers personnel involved in the torture of Aftab Ahmed will never be made public.
The three deaths with no connection to each other are symptomatic of a society where the rule of law is becoming extinct. There is little hope left when law enforcers turn lawbreakers.
The writer is an author and journalist.
Twitter: @hidhussain
Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2016
