IT appears that there may be some kind of small punishment after all for PPP lawmaker Jam Awais, who was pardoned for the cold-blooded murder of journalist Nazim Jokhio. A legal notice sent to the Sindh Assembly speaker seeks Mr Awais’s disqualification from the assembly, arguing that the payment of blood money is a form of punishment and amounts to an admission of guilt. Nazim Jokhio was tortured and killed at the Malir farmhouse of the PPP lawmaker in November 2021 after he refused to delete a video he had posted of Mr Awais’ foreign guests hunting the endangered houbara bustard. A murder case was filed against Mr Awais and his guards, but less than a year later, Jokhio’s family pardoned Jam Awais, saying “it is difficult to get justice in Pakistan”. The case is a heart-wrenching one, for it shows how utterly powerless the family felt when up against an influential MPA, and how after months of pursuing justice, they yielded to pressure and withdrew their complaints, accepting blood money and filing a compromise application.

It is appalling that throughout this high-profile case, the PPP did not distance itself from the accused. Instead, influence was used to extricate the lawmaker from the case, with activists accusing the Sindh government of being a party to the larger effort to absolve him. The delaying of the charge sheet, the fear felt by the slain reporter’s widow and the eventual pardon all point to a broken criminal justice system. Finally, the question of Mr Awais’ disqualification has been raised, and though it is a mere slap on the wrist, the speaker should not dismiss this notice. The entire episode is a stain on the PPP, and raises questions about its support for a man who tacitly accepted responsibility by the payment of blood money. The party should at least encourage the speaker to disqualify the MPA to bring some closure to the deceased’s family.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2023