Daily Times

With the surrender of former SSP Malir Rao Anwar before the Supreme Court this week, the family of Naqeebullah Mehsud are one small step closer to having justice delivered. For, presently, the fugitive policeman is now safely in the custody of an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) for the next 30 days.

The Chief Justice was right not to repeat the mistake of granting Anwar protective bail. Just as he was right to not entertain the police request to include members of the intelligence establishment in the new JIT formed to investigate the extrajudicial killing of 27-year-old Naqeebullah; an ethnic Pashtun from Waziristan who reportedly died in an encounter with Rao back in January.

Those in the know have suggested that the policeman’s change of heart in terms of presenting himself before the SC came about due to behind-the-scenes efforts to identify those who may have helped Rao initially attempt to flee the country. Yet the greater credit goes to the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) that brought the murder of Naqeebullah and so many like him into the national consciousness. This is no mean feat. Especially considering the prevalent culture of Punjabi privilege and subsequent notions of entitlement that all too commonly prevail; even at the Centre. More than a crying shame, then, that PTM founder Manzoor Pashteen has been slapped with charges of trying to cause a riot.

Nevertheless, there remain important questions to be answered; such as Rao’s confession in written correspondence to the SC that both he and Naqeebullah were innocent of any wrongdoing. The latter had been ‘accused’ of being a terrorist. For, if true, it suggests that the former SSP knows who was behind the fake encounter.

But for now, it is a cause of grave concern that more than half of the 25 officials that the police had filed a charge sheet against are still on the run. Thus it is hoped that with Rao having given himself up to due process, the others will follow suit. *

Published in Daily Times, March 23^rd 2018.