BANNERS, posters and graffiti containing defamatory, incendiary and provocative material are nothing new in cities across Pakistan. But when banners inscribed with defamatory material targeting a sitting judge of the honourable Supreme Court ‘mysteriously’ start popping up across Islamabad, supposedly the most secure and watched city in the country, there is reason for concern. In this regard, the state, specifically the security apparatus, needs to discover who is behind the recent display of banners targeting the integrity of Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja. The judge rightfully wondered during a hearing on Monday how the provocative material, linking him to the owner of the Jang group, could have come up in Islamabad without the capital administration or intelligence agencies getting wind of it. As he pointed out, the material was also placed in the ‘red zone’, which is supposed to be a high-security area. What makes matters even more puzzling is that they were reportedly put up by an entity called Farzand-i-Islam; interestingly, this organisation has never been heard of before.

This is not the first time ‘mysterious’ material has been publicly displayed in Islamabad. A few weeks earlier, in the aftermath of the Geo-ISI tussle following the attack on Hamid Mir, banners started appearing in the federal capital bearing the picture of the serving ISI chief, as if he were running in a local election. These banners were signed off by an obscure traders’ body. It is difficult to believe the Capital Development Authority and the intelligence agencies have no inkling of who placed the material targeting Justice Khawaja. The capital administration usually acts quickly to remove any unauthorised material. How these banners escaped its vigilant eyes needs to be explained. Such character assassination on the streets of the capital is totally unacceptable. Both the CDA and the intelligence agencies need to make an effort to trace those responsible. If this trend is not nipped in the bud, the evil will spread, with the list of targets being expanded constantly.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2014