Daily Times

Murder in the Kenyan Safari. Seems like the title of an Agatha Christie novel. Her famous best seller “Murder on the Orient Express” got so much notice that it was turned into a movie that is still talked about, watched and followed. The tragic murder of Arshad Shareef in the back and beyond of Kenya is much more gory and surreal but is a reality. Try as they may, the government could not bury it with time. The rituals were performed by the government. It set up a fact-finding committee. It got reported, yes. “Noticed,” yes and no. Noticed by the masses. Unnoticed by the few who matter. Till it could no longer be “unnoticed”. The Supreme Judge of the apex court finally issued a Suo moto on the Arshad Shareef murder case. The appropriate comment is “it’s never too late.”

As many as 43 days ago, Arshad Sharif was shot at point-blank range in his head and chest, presumably in a car on the outskirts of Kenya. Since then, the cat and mouse game is on. The government and the state institutions are creating a tragedy of errors. Declaring it as an accident by Kenyan Police due to mistaken identity to declaring it a planned murder has taken weeks and weeks. Committees and judicial enquiries were made and abandoned. The fact-finding committee that was formed has produced a report after visiting the safari land for weeks. It is a 400-page thick document that says more or less those things that have been now established in the media circles. What it does not say and what the real objective of the committee was, “Who dunnit?” That said, it does make obvious the attempts to mire this mystery in so much farcical confusion as to make it look like a lost cause. In doing so, it provides fodder to the hard reality queries that give the answer:

Who was threatening and filing multiple FIRs on Arshad Sharif?-16 FIRs were launched against Arshad on frivolous grounds. Islamabad High court order shows they had no base. Justice Athar Minallah stated in the order, “The petitioners are engaged in the profession of journalism and the criminal cases have been registered in the context of their speech. They have no criminal record. It appears to the Court that, prima facie, the petitioners have reasonable grounds to believe that criminal cases have been registered for other than bonafide reasons.”.

The fact-finding committee’s report is a 400-page thick document that says things that have been now established in the media circles.

Those who registered and those who engineered it.

Why did the government not respond to his plea for protection?

–Arshad Sharif wrote a letter to the President and the Prime minister, mentioning the court order and the continued threats. The President also wrote a letter to the Prime minister. Why was no action taken? This is what is called “criminal silence.” Had action been taken, the murder could have been prevented.

Who “managed” to arrange his forced exit from Dubai?

–Details mentioned by the family clearly state that the Dubai officials told them that they were asked by Pakistani officials to deport him. Dubai officials were considerate enough to allow him to leave Dubai for a country of his choice. This “forced exit” can be traced.

Why did the fact-finding report not trace it?

–This omission is a confession.

Why has the government not taken possession of his laptop and phone?

–The biggest evidence to trace his murderers would have been his laptop and the phone.

Why has that disappeared?

–The fact-finding report mentions a meeting in a hotel lobby just before Arshad was murdered.

Why was the recording not shared with them?

–This overlooking of main facts is what makes the report a select, copy, paste.

Why was post mortem report not handed over to the family?

–Basic human rights violations were done post his body arrived in Pakistan. The family was not given the report. The hospital would say go to the police, and the police would send them to the hospital. Whoever was denying this basic right was part of the murder plan.

Who leaked the post-mortem report to a TV channel?

–And then, that terrible graphic program conducted by a TV channel to show the post-mortem findings.

How was that done?

–Whoever managed it was obviously the guilty party.

Why did FIA not ensure a response from relevant people?

–The FIA has been on a rampage of harassing people with mere words, commas and full stops.

Why were they unable to find 14 people who registered cases against Arshad?

–The person impeding this evidence is the person behind this crime.

Why has FIA not published full statements and evidence from the immediate family?

–The family was privy to the names of those who were threatening Arshad.

Why was the information edited and posted selectively in the report?

–Those who are forcing FIA to do so are the crime sponsors.

Why is the report not publishing the real information provided by relevant people?

–The report does not mention all facts stated by other anchors etc who were being given the same threats.

Again, it is an obvious “deletion” program being managed by those who are afraid of being caught. Faisal Vawda, who did that dramatic press conference and dozens of TV programs claiming he had all the information, did not respond to FIA questions. Those who let him get away with this hiding of information are those who planned Arshad Sharif’s murder.

Why has FIR not been allowed to be registered by the family of Arshad Sharif?

–This is the biggest giveaway. FIR registration is a family right. To ask a random SHO to register is an indirect confession of malafide mischief. The family has rejected the FIR. The mother of Arshad Sharif has written a letter to the Chief Justice explaining the reasons.

A mother in a wheelchair seeking justice. A family crying for justice. An old woman demanding the truth. The public weeping and praying. What could be more obvious than a woman who has no political, financial or social agenda other than to get justice for her son making an impassioned appeal? She writes in the appeal that Arshad had requested them before leaving for Dubai on the 10th of August 2022, ” If anything happens to him, Lt General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Lt General Nadeem Anjum, Major General Faisal Naseer, Brig Muhammad Shafiq Malik, Brig Faheem Raza, Col Nauman and Col Rizwan will be responsible.”

We are all responsible for doing our bit to reach the truth-for Arshad’s mother and many more mothers, wives, and children who are victims of this shoot, shut and shove system. In Agatha Christie’s novels like “Murder on the Orient Express,” till the very end, nobody could tell who the murderer was. In the “Murder on the Kenyan Safari,” everybody from the first FIR could tell who did it. But the law enforcement agencies like the police and state institutions like FIA are all playing an “I know but I can’t ” game. It is up to the highest office of justice to decide: do they also “know but not know” or will they rise to their stature and restore the true spirit of the oath of “truth and nothing but the truth.”

The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and analyst and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1 @gmail.com. She tweets at @AndleebAbbas