Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari has regretted the remarks he made during an interview to a private TV channel on Friday that gave the impression of him supporting the absconding former SSP Malir Rao Anwar.

In a statement issued in Islamabad on Saturday, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said the party co-chairman had described his words as “misspoken and regretted any offence to anyone”.

The former president also acknowledged during another interview to a channel on Saturday that his words about Rao Anwar were “indeed misspoken”.

Denouncing the extrajudicial killings as “abhorrent, criminal and unacceptable”, Asif Ali Zardari called for bringing to justice all those involved in it.

“Enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings are twins of a deepening curse. It is unthinkable that the Pakistan People’s Party would support it in any form or manner,” he was quoted as saying.

The party’s record in and out of the parliament is a testimony to it, the statement added.

“The former president realises that his remarks made unwittingly in the flow of conversation may have caused anguish and has regretted it.”

During Friday’s interview, Zardari had called Anwar a “brave kid”, who survived out of the 54 station house officers participating in the operation against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi between 1994 and 1995.

When asked about Anwar’s whereabouts and if the PPP government had hidden him, Zardari responded, “You can come and check if we have hidden him or not.”

He further went on to say, “When MQM came back into power, Anwar went underground.”

“Why are there not 444 petitions filed in the Supreme Court against these extra-judicial murders?” Zardari questioned during the interview.

The former president hinted towards a scuffle between the Sindh government and Sindh police regarding a report submitted in the SC concerning Anwar and said, “The Inspector General Police Sindh is appointed by the SC and not the government of Sindh but let’s not get into this as the SC is already very controversial these days.”

In January, a three-man inquiry committee was formed to probe the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in Karachi, which found that Anwar had staged a fake encounter to eliminate the young man.

Speaking further during Friday’s interview, Zardari said that everybody should step back and take a look at Naqeebullah Mehsud’s murder case once again.

Mehsud, a 27-year-old native of Waziristan, was among three others who were accused of being terrorists and were killed by Anwar on January 13, in what was later determined to be a fake encounter. Anwar and most members of his encounter team have since gone into hiding.

The SC in its hearing on February 17 issued a contempt of court notice to Anwar over his failure to show up in court.

The court also directed the State Bank of Pakistan to seize Anwar’s bank accounts.

The orders were given by a two-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, who is hearing the suo motu case of Mehsud’s extrajudicial killing in Karachi last month, wherein Anwar is the primary accused.

Published in Daily Times, February 18^th 2018.