First the sorrow, now the fear
By Asad Kharal
Thirteen years ago, Fida Hussain Ghalvi and three other
witnesses boldly testified against Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s top hitman Malik Ishaq for the killing of 12 members of their family. They didn’t know that their search for justice would lead them nowhere, the ordeal had just begun…
LAHORE: The mere thought of the murderer of twelve of his kin being acquitted is enough to send a ripple of fear up his spine. Fida Hussain Ghalvi’s thoughts revert to the time when 13 years ago, he and three other men had boldly testified against Malik Ishaq – the formidable founding member of the banned terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
Malik Ishaq, the man who Ghalvi and other victims of his killing spree believed would never see the light of day, is all set for release from prison. Ishaq was arrested in 1997 for involvement in sectarian murders – almost all of his victims were members of the minority Shia community. Police charged Ishaq with murders of 70 people in 44 different cases but he escaped conviction in each case due to “lack of evidence” against him.
Ishaq’s associates in LJ unleashed a violent campaign when he stood trial for the deaths of 12 people at a gathering of the Ghalvi family in 1997.
“When Ishaq was arrested in 1997, he unleashed his broad network against his opponents, killing witnesses, threatening judges and intimidating police, leading nearly all of the prosecutions against him to collapse eventually,” Ghalvi told Daily Times while narrating a blow-by-blow account of LJ’s bloodthirsty hatred – and of Ishaq’s.
“Ishaq, along with seven others, attacked the Esaal-e-Sawaab Majlis-e-Aza of my aunt held at our native village Kot Chaudhry Sher Muhammad,” said Ghalvi. “Twelve people of my family – Sardar Ali, Abdul Rahim, Allah Ditta, Muhammad Yousaf, Islamuddin, Muhammad Nawaz, Syed Ali Shah, Syed Shoukat Ali Shah, Allah Baksh, Akbar Ali, Bashir Ahmed and Sher Muhammad – were killed.”
When Ishaq was arrested from Faisalabad in 1997 and sent to Central Jail Multan, Ghalvi and the other witnesses were summoned for his identification parade. The witnesses pointed at Ishaq at the very onset, but he was least perturbed. In the presence of the civil judge and the deputy superintendent of the jail, Ishaq threw down the gauntlet. “Dead men don’t talk,” Ghalvi quoted Ishaq as telling the witnesses. Ghalvi said that despite blatant threats by Ishaq and his lawyer, he and the other witnesses refused to back down.
Ghalvi said that during the trial, eight people – five eye witnesses and three of their relatives were killed, including Chaudhry Mukhtar Hussain Ghalvi, Mukhtar Fauji, Shoukat Ali, Ashiq Hussain, Fazal and his son Ali Raza. “During the trial, we appeared 110 times before the judges during a span of eight years,” he said.
In the face of this, Ishaq was acquitted in 2004 when a judge ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict him. The case has been in an appeals court since. A judge did hand down a guilty verdict in one case against Ishaq, but the Supreme Court overturned it.
Poor investigation and prosecution, and concrete evidences not making it to the file records also contributed to Ishaq getting a clean chit, says Ghalvi. Reason? “Fear, which Ishaq ingrained in his adversaries brought about his acquittal – it’s as obvious as daylight,” said Ghalvi, who has been diligently pursuing the cases against Ishaq since the last 13 years.
In an interesting disclosure, Ghalvi told Daily Times that a year and a half ago, the then Punjab IG Shaukat Javaid allowed a senior police official, former head of defunct militant organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and now convener of Ahle Sunnah Wal Jamaat Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi, and his deputy Khadim Dhillon to meet Ishaq in Central Jail Multan. Ghalvi said the meeting continued for about five hours. When the matter was put up in a meeting of Ittehad Bainul Muslimeen, Javaid steered clear of the controversy by claiming that the meeting was arranged with permission from senior government officials.
Talking to Daily Times, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah admitted that the main cause for acquittal of terrorists like Malik Ishaq was the annihilation of eyewitnesses. The other reason for the terrorists’ acquittal in a record number of cases was due to political recruitments of prosecutors during Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s government, Sanaullah claimed. The law minister had nothing to say on the danger Ghalvi and the other witnesses were facing in the wake of Ishaq’s release from prison. He also did not comment on the VVIP facilities Malik Ishaq is availing in jail, including cell phones.
Dangerous terrorists like Malik Ishaq are able to escape punishment because of lack of witnesses and evidence, Punjab DIG Crimes Muhammad Ayub Qureshi, who is the officer dealing directly in terrorism cases, told Daily Times.
Qureshi said in some cases the witnesses backed out due to fear or were forced to agree on a compromise with the accused. He said that the police was now focusing on strengthening the investigation and prosecution so that terrorists could not get freedom from courts on the basis of lack of evidence.
Malik Ishaq is currently being detained in prison for involvement in the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, on the statement of one of the suspects, Zubair Maitla.
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