Daily Times

It is the season of ground-shattering revelations. Apparently not satisfied with the furore he had caused with his last presser, former PTI leader Faisal Wawda is back with some more conspiracy theories; punctuated with buzzwords like “blind alley.” What had begun as a phenomenal spilling of the beans over the the killing of prominent TV journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya soon transformed into a self-touted crusade to “advice” his ex-kaptaan over policies.

Shouting from the other side of the table (and literally, the world), Tasneem Haider’s claims about having connected PML(N) supremo Nawaz Sharif to hired guns for the purpose of murdering slain journalist Arshad Sharif and making an attempt on former prime minister Imran Khan’s life have taken a surprising turn. Playing on the backfoot over his offer to record his testimony before the authorities, Mr Shah, has nonetheless, pushed the ruling party to a very uncomfortable spot on the field. Already bearing the brunt of vicious allegations from the PTI chairman with regard to his assassination attempt, all that echoes in their camp is a well-curated statement from the information ministry. However, maintaining the defence of her party leadership, Ms Marriyam Aurangzaib has, indeed, pointed to an increasingly ignored cornerstone of the debate: “Forgery, lies and fake news cannot divert attention from Arshad Sharif’s real killers.” Who, indeed, are they? Would they ever be caught has now become the multi-million dollar question, reverberating on the streets and in the drawing rooms across the length and breadth of this country.

Because deep buried inside this caustic conundrum that continues to pit leaders against leaders and parties against parties is an appeal penned by the victim’s mother to the chief justice of Pakistan with a faint hope of getting closure, if not justice, anytime soon. Had Mr Sharif been alive today, one could expect his daring work ethic to knock on all doors in his line of sight; forcing the higher-ups to shelve the politics for another day. All of Pakistan might have condemned his death as an umpteenth attempt to silence the media and voices of dissent through violence, but would anyone in Pakistan step forward and ensure the law took its course? *