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The dark side of Raymond’s release
March 25, 2011
Today, all the International Non Governmental Organizations (INGOs) and International Organization (IO) linked with the women issue are silent and have failed to project the cause of Shamaila’s unprecedented sacrifice to bring the killer of her husband before the law. No body has seen their posters and banners in front of their posh offices nor were there workshops, seminars, conventions or awareness campaigns in the five star hotels, which they usually do. There was even no protest meeting in front of government offices to register their protest. One really wonders where the international and nationals NGOs are, who used to fight for women rights. Do they really think that locals will accept them when they would be campaigning for those who got killed on account of religious and cultural traditions, burring or acid throwing? Why Shamaila’s suicide and freedom of Raymond Davis failed to attract front pages of international media internet websites and blogs. The fact that none among the national and international organizations are campaigning for Shamaila’s right is not a secret anymore. Should we comprehend that since the offenders are not Muslims or Pakistanis so their campaign would not only fail to attract support but will be thrown back on their faces. The Chief Justice of Pakistan should take “suo motu” action and should not allow a wrong precedent of Qisas and Diat Law to set as same will be quoted as reference in future case in our courts.
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Media reports suggests that District and Sessions Judge Yousuf Aujla indicted Davis on murder charges during in-camera proceedings at the Kot Lakhpat Jail, and then 19 heirs/relatives of those killed by the American ‘terrorist’ appeared in the makeshift court and said they were willing to forgive Raymond Davis if compensation was paid under the Qisas and Diat Law. Judge Aujla also disposed of another case against Davis for illegal possession of a weapon, saying the time he had spent in prison would be considered as his punishment. Davis paid a fine of Rs30,000 in connection with this case on the orders of the court. However, the mysterious disappearance of more then 19 heirs and the judge who decided the case puts a big question mark on the authenticity of claim that Raymond Davis has been pardoned by the heirs under the Islamic law.
Interestingly, the Computerized National Identity Cards and signatures of a number of recipients are either missing or forged. There are reports that some of them were even not presented before Judge Yousaf Aujla and merely their papers were submitted. Reportedly, court’s requirements were also not met by a number of claimants including Shazia Ayub, wife of Muhammad Ayub, Parveen Akhtar, wife of Haider Ali, Nazia Afzal, wife of Muhammad Afzal and Asia Bibi, wife of Malik Khurram. Media reports claim that all of them have ‘fled’ to Dubai after receiving Diat amounts. One wonders when at least five of the hairs were not having even the copy of their National Identity Cards; how they were issued passports by the authorities without which entry into any foreign country is not possible.
Media claims that Raymond Davis is a free man, but we should not forget that the newly-wed wife of Faheem namely Shumaila Faheem, resident of Khurrian Wala in Faisalabad, is also linked to the incident as she committed suicide on February 5 because of too much US pressure on Pakistani government, Police and judiciary for the release of the killer without any trial. Shumaila got her ‘Dying Declaration” recorded before the authorities which cannot be ignored when deciding the case of Raymond Davis in the light of Qisas and Diat Law. In an interview from Allied Hospital, Faisalabad, before her death, she said that she had swallowed the pills because she suspected that the government would release Davis and would not take action against him. In her statement duly televised by media in the presence of a magistrate, police and other witnesses, she said: “They are already treating my husband’s murderer like a VIP in police custody and I am sure they will let him go because of international pressure. The man murdered my husband and I demand justice. I don’t care if he is American; he must not be allowed to get away with this. I do not expect any justice from this government that is why I want to kill myself. I want blood for blood. The way my husband was shot, his killer should be shot in the same fashion." Thus Shumaila had not pardoned Raymond Davis and being wife of Faheem, she was the immediate heir and next to kin.
We have Section 174-A of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) which reads: 1) Where a person, grievously injured by burns through fire, kerosene oil, chemical or by any other way, is brought to a medical officer on duty designated by the provincial government for this purpose or, such an incident is reported to the officer in charge of police station, such medical officer on duty, or, as the case may be officer in charge of police station, shall immediately give intimation there of to the nearest magistrate. Simultaneously the medical officer on duty shall record the statement of the injured person immediately on arrival so as to ascertain the circumstances and cause of the burn injuries. The magistrate shall also record the statement in case the injured person is still in a position to make a statement. 2) The medical officer on duty, or as the case may be, the magistrate, before recording the statement under subsection 1 shall satisfy himself that the injured person is not under any threat or duress. The statement so recorded shall be forwarded to session judge and to the district superintendent of police, the officer in charge of the police station, for such action as may be necessary under this code. 3) If the injured person is unable, for any reason, to make statement before the magistrate, his statement recorded by the medical officer on duty under subsection 1 shall be sent in a sealed cover to the magistrate or trial court if it is other than the magistrate and may be accepted in evidence as a dying declaration if the injured person expires.
Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and member of President Barack Hussain Obama’s Democratic Party, came to Lahore on February 15 to pressurize Islamabad despite the fact that the matter was sub judice and the judicial process should have been respected by all stakeholders. There were also indirect statements of likely aid cut. Interestingly, a well coordinated statement was issued by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates before Senate Committee hearing that he is concerned about the current situation in Pakistan. He also hinted that India might attack Pakistan, "I worry a lot about Pakistan. It has huge economic problems... They have a serious internal terrorism threat that is seeking to destabilize Pakistan itself. And I worry that some of those terrorists might try and provoke a conflict between Pakistan and India." Robert Gates also said: "If you'd asked me two years ago if the Pakistanis would withdraw six divisions from the Indian border and put them in the west, I would have said impossible. If you would have asked me if we would begin coordinating operations on both sides of the border with Afghan and ISAF forces on the one side, and the Pakistanis on the other, I would have said that's very unlikely." In fact these were messages to Islamabad, especially the military, about the consequences of a fair trial of Raymond Davis.
Statements of our so called American friends in their official capacity as well as during public had reflected “Pakis can sell their mother for ten dollars.” The release of the American terrorist Raymond Davis has proved that that spiritual leader Sufi Muhammad of the Tehreek-e-Niaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) and the religious clergy of Swat rightly rejected the Darul Qaza judges appointed by the KP government in the Malakand-Swat region. Sufi Muhammad’s explanation for rejecting the appointment was basically due to the ignorance of judges of Islamic jurisprudence as compared to those law graduates who have completed Sharia Law from International Islamic University in Islamabad and other foreign countries. Pardon granted to the American terrorist in the guise of Qisas and Diat Law is in fact a practical joke played with Islamic Shariat Law as divine laws cannot be interpreted on the sweet will of jurists. We have no right to comment of the judgment of the court but the right to contest in the higher court still exists. The Raymond Davis case needs to be contested in Islamic Shariat Court, which is only the competent court to settle such cases in Pakistan.
Today, all the International Non Governmental Organizations (INGOs) and International Organization (IO) linked with the women issue are silent and have failed to project the cause of Shamaila’s unprecedented sacrifice to bring the killer of her husband before the law. No body has seen their posters and banners in front of their posh offices nor were there workshops, seminars, conventions or awareness campaigns in the five star hotels, which they usually do. There was even no protest meeting in front of government offices to register their protest. One really wonders where the international and nationals NGOs are, who used to fight for women rights. Do they really think that locals will accept them when they would be campaigning for those who got killed on account of religious and cultural traditions, burring or acid throwing? Why Shamaila’s suicide and freedom of Raymond Davis failed to attract front pages of international media internet websites and blogs. The fact that none among the national and international organizations are campaigning for Shamaila’s right is not a secret anymore. Should we comprehend that since the offenders are not Muslims or Pakistanis so their campaign would not only fail to attract support but will be thrown back on their faces. The Chief Justice of Pakistan should take “suo motu” action and should not allow a wrong precedent of Qisas and Diat Law to set as same will be quoted as reference in future case in our courts.
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