Daily Times

The narrative evolving around the proceedings of the Joint Investigation Team in the Sahiwal killings is worrisome. The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has already changed its positions multiple times before settling with the latest version: that there was an error in judgement on the part of the team that shot and killed the four passengers, and it failed to take stock of Khalil and his family’s presence in the car.

From the authorities’ briefings to the press, it appears that the probe in the Sahiwal killings is now singularly focused on the person driving the car, identified as Zeeshan, a resident of Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat area. While the JIT probes Zeeshan’s alleged links with terrorist outfits, it must not lose sight of the rage expressed by the public in the wake of the gruesome killings. That rage was concerned with the widespread practice of extrajudicial and staged killings in the country. The JIT should, therefore, not be allowed to divert its attention from the act of shooting itself. It needs to be ascertained who gave directions for opening fire in the manner in which it was done, especially since there has yet to emerge any evidence that it was an act of self defence. If it wasn’t an act of self defence then the CTD is left with no defence at all of not having arrested Zeeshan so that he could be made to face charges against him in a court of law.

Secondly, the JIT must also tell the public about the intelligence failure involved in the incident. How come those gathering intelligence leading to the killing could not figure out that Khalil and his family were present in the car? This implies an extremely serious flaw in our counter terrorism policy, since most operations carried out by law enforcers in provinces are backed by intelligence shared by agencies in the Centre. No loopholes that can allowed to persist in this coordination mechanism, and, therefore, those responsible for having shared immature intelligence must be held responsible to avoid such occurrences in future.

On Friday, the Punjab Home Secretary and the Inspector General of Police appeared before the Senate committee on the Interior and stated that there absolutely no doubt in their minds about Zeeshan’s affiliation with a terrorist outfit. The two men serve on the highest ranking offices in the provincial bureaucracy and are expected to have a clear grasp on the constitution and the laws formed under it. Calling someone a terrorist isn’t a light matter, and it certainly can’t be established by personnel of the law enforcement agencies on their own. Only a court of law can declare someone a terrorist after careful examination of evidence brought against them. It is important that the authorities refrain from referring to Zeeshan as a terrorist.

This seemingly minor detail is extremely important given how anti-terrorism laws have been abused by law enforcers themselves. Rights activists have highlighted multiple occasions where legitimate struggles of different groups have been suppressed by the authorities through the use of anti-terror laws.

Thus, if the law enforcers have evidence against Zeeshan, that makes him a terrorism suspect, and requires the officials to present that evidence in a court of law which is the only constitutional authority that can declare someone a terrorist. *

Published in Daily Times, January 26^th 2019.