The circumstances under which former ISI official Brigadier (retd) Asad Munir apparently committed suicide on Friday morning must be thoroughly investigated by the police and judiciary. Only a day before, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) approved a corruption reference against him. A lively and articulate person, Munir was quite active on social media who used to appear on various evening talk shows discussing issues pertaining to politics and foreign policy. No one ever thought that he would end his life like this. Psychologically speaking, numerous people around the world suppress their inner emotions and thoughts by acting oblivious. This eventually eats them up internally which leads to taking impulsive decisions such as committing suicide. But who is responsible for a decorated army officer like Munir’s suicide? His typed suicide note solely holds NAB responsible which was harassing him for quite some time over baseless cases. His appeal to the chief justice on taking action against NAB officials was truly heart-breaking given how he kept on pleading not guilty in the note. The way NAB works should be reviewed by the judicial and executive branch of the government. Some of its investigating officers have often been found to be incompetent with lack of oversight, necessary skills and vision to assess cases. Their rude and arrogant attitude, as pointed out in the suicide note, is widely known in bureaucratic and corporate circles. It is often witnessed that they initiate cases in an intellectually dishonest manner and impose their harassing nature upon the accused party. From a legal point, they cannot decide someone to be guilty unless there’s solid evidence. Many individuals are asked to provide their assets details even if the cases are unrelated to such matters. How exactly is NAB helping when its officers cannot even clearly distinguish between who’s guilty or innocent? Not mentioning that it summons accused parties in a shady manner by sending them ‘reminder letters’ when the initial letter was never even received. If NAB wishes to recover embezzled amounts in a transparent manner, then it must act within the confines of the law by hiring competent and humane officers to investigate both minor and major cases. As for Brigadier Munir’s suicide note, the details pertaining to his NAB cases must be thoroughly reviewed. Sacking and filing FIRs against the investigating officers responsible for his death should also be seriously considered by the state. * Published in Daily Times, March 17th 2019.