New Karsaz FIR
IT is intriguing that a new First Information Report about the bomb attack on Benazir Bhutto’s procession should have been registered a full one year after the Oct 18 crime that killed some 140 innocent people in Karachi. Those named in the new FIR are two former spy chiefs — former ISI boss Gen (retd) Hameed Gul and former Intelligence Bureau head Ijaz Shah — besides former Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi. In a statement made a day after the Karsaz blast, Bhutto said that prior to her return to Pakistan she had written a letter to President Pervez Musharraf, naming the three persons who she suspected wanted to kill her and eliminate the top PPP leadership. The big question is why the authorities waited for 12 months to discover new suspects and why these three names were not included in the previous FIR. One obvious answer could be that the previous government wasn’t being helpful and that Pervaiz Elahi used his influence as chief minister to block investigations. That still wouldn’t fully answer the question, because the PPP-led government has been in power now for nearly seven months and could have moved the investigating agencies immediately after it came to power.
The security agencies have made no startling disclosures over the last 12 months. Maybe, one could argue, the authorities were working quietly and did not wish to go public with whatever progress they had made. That said, the investigating agencies’ competence does not arouse much confidence. While the vehicle that was bombed at Karsaz was secured, the immediate surroundings were quickly cleaned of everything that may have served as evidence — a stupefying phenomenon that was seen again after the Liaquat Bagh tragedy when Bhutto finally fell victim to her assassins. Contrast this with the investigation into the Lockerbie crash where the police gathered every bit of metal and scrap spread over a radius of several miles and finally found the clue. Here the police cleaned up or hosed down the crime scenes in Karachi and Rawalpindi, destroying evidence either deliberately or out of sheer negligence.
The intelligence agencies’ perverse role in politics for decades need not be repeated here, nor do we have to emphasise the three suspects’ hostility to the PPP, especially the Bhutto family. But that still does not point to their culpability. A year has gone by, and investigations into both the Oct 18 blast in Karachi and into the murder of Benazir Bhutto two months later in Rawalpindi have made little or no progress. All we can hope is that the registration of a fresh FIR should prompt the government sleuths to shake off their sloth and investigate the crime in a manner that should show no trace of politicisation or bias. (Dawn)
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Fallout of Karsaz FIR
On the first anniversary of the terrorist attack made on the procession of the PPP leader Ms Benazir Bhutto in the Karsaz area of Karachi, an FIR has been lodged on the basis of a letter written by her naming three persons who could be involved in her assassination. They were two ex-ISI army officers, Mr Ijaz Shah and Mr Hamid Gul, and one ex-chief minister of Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Mr Gul has already said that he would not give himself up to the police but will appear before a commission if it is set up. An FIR of murder, however, requires the arrest of the accused.
The political scene is too divided for the sort of justice the PPP wants. The retired army officers’ organisation calling itself Ex-Servicemen’s Association [a sub-division of ISI?] is already growling, threatening to bring “25 lakh ex-servicemen on the roads against the PPP government”. They repeat Mr Gul’s accusation that it is being done on orders from Washington, covering him with the nimbus he has always craved as an anti-American hero. In Punjab, the arrest of the ex-chief minister, who is a member of the National Assembly now, will be possible only after the current PMLN chief minister, Mr Shehbaz Sharif, has given the go ahead to his police. In sum, the move made through the FIR in Karachi will pit elements within the army against the PPP while starting an inter-party spat between the PPP and the PMLQ, indirectly empowering the opposition inside the parliament against the sitting government. Those stupid people who advised this action are no friends of Mr Zardari.(Daily Times)
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Showing posts with label Karsaz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Karsaz. Show all posts
Monday, 20 October 2008
Fallout of Karsaz FIR: If you want to try Hamid Gul, reopen Asghar Khan's petition against ISI in the Supreme Court
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Remembering the victims of 18 October 2007: The gruesome attack on the mammoth reception of Banzair Bhutto by about a million supporters in Karachi
18 October 2007: A day when the enemies of Pakistan, the supporters of Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Sipah-e-Sahaba, when the remnants of General Zia-ul-Haq in the Pakistani society, the Hamid Guls and Aslam Begs and other beast like creatures conspired to attack and kill Benazir Bhutto. The Karsaz blast resulted in deaths of more than 150 supporters of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/10/081018_karsaz_oct18_families.shtml
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The bittersweet homecoming
By Razi Ahmed
EXACTLY a year ago, Emirates flight EK 606 landed at Karachi’s Jinnah Terminal after delays caused by the constant in-flight turbulence generated by giddy supporters celebrating the return of Benazir Bhutto after eight years in exile. Pleas by Bhutto’s comrades at the request of the pilot failed to placate the party spirit of her supporters aboard the plane.
Sobriety returned though as the former prime minister descended the stairs, reduced to tears of joy by the emotions surging within as she set foot on home soil as well as the heart-warming spectacle of the waiting crowd, including aviation authority personnel, chanting “Jeay Bhutto”. Actually my memory of this moment is based on the historic images I saw later because, wanting the crowd to thin out, I had chosen to stay back in the cabin as Bhutto exited the plane. The view from high up in the aircraft was a political classic — Bhutto’s trademark dupatta, her supporters behind her, the press corps next to her and another throng of supporters in front.
It was an extraordinary spectacle of immense symbolic value. It seemed that people’s power had returned to the fore determined to take on the forces of dictatorship, restore democracy to the country and its people, and crush the warped ideology of the likes of Baitullah Mehsud.
Making our way through the mayhem we soon found ourselves inside the immigration hall, wondering whether it was worth trekking up to the Mehran Lounge, where Benazir Bhutto had been ferried.
Conflicting reports of her whereabouts trickled back to us. To find out whether she had commenced her onward journey, we decided to reach the scene of action.
Unusually deserted streets leading out of Jinnah Terminal belied the tumult that lay ahead at Star Gate Avenue, and also suggested that the procession hadn’t started yet. October’s unbearable humidity did not dissuade tens of thousands of people — a total of three million according to the PPP — from paying homage to their beloved leader. Clearly, she was the embodiment of hope for the thousands present at the scene, and possibly also for millions across the land watching the television coverage of a truly momentous moment.
The composition of the crowd was varied and eclectic, with probably every ethnic group in Pakistan represented. Flag-bearing delegations representing minority communities were a reminder of the oft-forgotten reason for the white in our flag.
In short, men and women of all shades and stripes gathered to accord a rousing welcome to a leader they clearly respected and in whom they saw, realistically or otherwise, the ability to fix their socio-economic problems and, on a broader scale, their country’s.
It was not a day to engage in evaluations of her two terms in office or her real or imagined misdeeds; nothing could shift the focus away from the sense of wonder only this sort of mass rally could inspire. How often does the nation with its varied population, religions and subcultures coalesce around a political figure and a moderate, nation-building ideology? Rarely. Hence the events of the day occasioned joy for resident Pakistanis as well as the diaspora as they counterbalanced the ethnic divisions and bigotry eating away at the soul of the nation. Our collective unity in its finest diversity was there for the world to see.
Had the procession safely reached its destination, and the night its climax, perhaps things would have looked that way longer, the euphoria of the moment morphing into a larger campaign to rid the country of the depraved mindset of hate-mongers, suicide bombers and their brutal patrons.
All communities, serving as stakeholders, progressive street power at its zenith and an articulate, unwavering leadership forming the nucleus of a new Pakistan — that was the dream on display for the better part of that day.
The dancing and merriment, really a collective effervescence of sorts, proved to be short-lived as the killers sprang into action targeting an innocent and patriotic crowd, leaving close to 150 dead and scores others injured and maimed. Carnival was turned into carnage, as this paper put it the next day. It was the worst suicide attack in terms of death toll in the country’s short but horrifically bloody history of suicide missions. According to one estimate, nearly 120 suicide attacks have taken place since 2002.
One year down the road, despite the transition from dictatorship to democracy, little or nothing has changed; indeed the frequency of suicide bombings has increased and the hold of the obscurantists and merchants of death seems to have strengthened. No one seems to be able to come up with a sustainable formula for coexisting with or eliminating the Tehrik-i-Taliban. Worse, few mullahs and religious parties in our cities, towns and villages have condemned these reprehensible, unholy attacks that have left families in mourning and a nation in terror of the unknown.
Military operations against the militants have, at best, achieved only marginal success. Negotiations haven’t worked and deals reneged on have naturally collapsed. The politicians, meanwhile, continue to squabble instead of putting up a united front in the battle against militancy and terrorism. It is time for everyone to come together. And it is time for the silent majority to stir as it did on Oct 18, 2007, albeit ceremoniously, to make its position known. (Dawn)
razi.razi@gmail.com
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/10/081018_karsaz_oct18_families.shtml
.....
The bittersweet homecoming
By Razi Ahmed
EXACTLY a year ago, Emirates flight EK 606 landed at Karachi’s Jinnah Terminal after delays caused by the constant in-flight turbulence generated by giddy supporters celebrating the return of Benazir Bhutto after eight years in exile. Pleas by Bhutto’s comrades at the request of the pilot failed to placate the party spirit of her supporters aboard the plane.
Sobriety returned though as the former prime minister descended the stairs, reduced to tears of joy by the emotions surging within as she set foot on home soil as well as the heart-warming spectacle of the waiting crowd, including aviation authority personnel, chanting “Jeay Bhutto”. Actually my memory of this moment is based on the historic images I saw later because, wanting the crowd to thin out, I had chosen to stay back in the cabin as Bhutto exited the plane. The view from high up in the aircraft was a political classic — Bhutto’s trademark dupatta, her supporters behind her, the press corps next to her and another throng of supporters in front.
It was an extraordinary spectacle of immense symbolic value. It seemed that people’s power had returned to the fore determined to take on the forces of dictatorship, restore democracy to the country and its people, and crush the warped ideology of the likes of Baitullah Mehsud.
Making our way through the mayhem we soon found ourselves inside the immigration hall, wondering whether it was worth trekking up to the Mehran Lounge, where Benazir Bhutto had been ferried.
Conflicting reports of her whereabouts trickled back to us. To find out whether she had commenced her onward journey, we decided to reach the scene of action.
Unusually deserted streets leading out of Jinnah Terminal belied the tumult that lay ahead at Star Gate Avenue, and also suggested that the procession hadn’t started yet. October’s unbearable humidity did not dissuade tens of thousands of people — a total of three million according to the PPP — from paying homage to their beloved leader. Clearly, she was the embodiment of hope for the thousands present at the scene, and possibly also for millions across the land watching the television coverage of a truly momentous moment.
The composition of the crowd was varied and eclectic, with probably every ethnic group in Pakistan represented. Flag-bearing delegations representing minority communities were a reminder of the oft-forgotten reason for the white in our flag.
In short, men and women of all shades and stripes gathered to accord a rousing welcome to a leader they clearly respected and in whom they saw, realistically or otherwise, the ability to fix their socio-economic problems and, on a broader scale, their country’s.
It was not a day to engage in evaluations of her two terms in office or her real or imagined misdeeds; nothing could shift the focus away from the sense of wonder only this sort of mass rally could inspire. How often does the nation with its varied population, religions and subcultures coalesce around a political figure and a moderate, nation-building ideology? Rarely. Hence the events of the day occasioned joy for resident Pakistanis as well as the diaspora as they counterbalanced the ethnic divisions and bigotry eating away at the soul of the nation. Our collective unity in its finest diversity was there for the world to see.
Had the procession safely reached its destination, and the night its climax, perhaps things would have looked that way longer, the euphoria of the moment morphing into a larger campaign to rid the country of the depraved mindset of hate-mongers, suicide bombers and their brutal patrons.
All communities, serving as stakeholders, progressive street power at its zenith and an articulate, unwavering leadership forming the nucleus of a new Pakistan — that was the dream on display for the better part of that day.
The dancing and merriment, really a collective effervescence of sorts, proved to be short-lived as the killers sprang into action targeting an innocent and patriotic crowd, leaving close to 150 dead and scores others injured and maimed. Carnival was turned into carnage, as this paper put it the next day. It was the worst suicide attack in terms of death toll in the country’s short but horrifically bloody history of suicide missions. According to one estimate, nearly 120 suicide attacks have taken place since 2002.
One year down the road, despite the transition from dictatorship to democracy, little or nothing has changed; indeed the frequency of suicide bombings has increased and the hold of the obscurantists and merchants of death seems to have strengthened. No one seems to be able to come up with a sustainable formula for coexisting with or eliminating the Tehrik-i-Taliban. Worse, few mullahs and religious parties in our cities, towns and villages have condemned these reprehensible, unholy attacks that have left families in mourning and a nation in terror of the unknown.
Military operations against the militants have, at best, achieved only marginal success. Negotiations haven’t worked and deals reneged on have naturally collapsed. The politicians, meanwhile, continue to squabble instead of putting up a united front in the battle against militancy and terrorism. It is time for everyone to come together. And it is time for the silent majority to stir as it did on Oct 18, 2007, albeit ceremoniously, to make its position known. (Dawn)
razi.razi@gmail.com
Read more...
Friday, 17 October 2008
Time to arrest General (R) Hamid Gul, Brigadier (R) Ijaz Shah and other rogue elements in Pakistan's intelligence agencies - Fresh FIR for Karsaz
This site has moved to http://criticalppp.com/archives/262, click this link if you are not redirected
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