Daily Times

The shocking discovery of the Supreme Court’s (SC’s) Justice Javed Iqbal’s murdered parents in their home is being scrutinised through many different lenses. Initial eyewitness reports indicated that they had offered resistance to a robbery and were made to pay the price by being shot dead. However, some reports indicate that the old couple was found to have been strangled. It is too early to say what exactly happened as the facts are still murky but it goes without saying that this is a very tragic incident indeed. The lawyers’ community is up in arms and have announced a strike to protest this gruesome act.

This horrific murder of a defenceless elderly couple is also being made grounds for a suspicion most unsettling. Justice Javed heads the three-man SC bench hearing the sensitive missing persons’ case — a case that has caused widespread agitation and disturbance for the masses because of the cloak of non-transparency it is wrapped in. On Monday, the SC declared that 2011 would be the year of the missing persons. Just one day after this statement by the SC, Justice Javed’s parents have been murdered. Now their death could most certainly be the result of a robbery gone horribly wrong but, in conspiracy-fuelled Pakistan, the link is adding fuel to a fire that has been raging for too long now.

What has given this suspicion grounds to breed is the fact that a glaring culture of impunity exists within our security and intelligence apparatus. For too long now there has been no closure given to the many families who have had loved ones disappear without a trace. For too long now there have been rumours of the agencies whisking people away for reasons unknown. Any attempts to investigate this matter have been met with staunch resistance by the agencies. It is probably because of these very reasons that, even without evidence, people are pointing to a supposed link between the missing persons’ case and the murder of Justice Javed’s parents.

Even though we cannot rush to judgment, it is extremely troubling that such thoughts even exist. Even if such a link does not exist, such a baseless rumour would be enough to serve as a scare tactic for anyone willing to take a tough stand on the missing persons. *