Witness no more

The government and law-enforcement agencies had apparently called the Sabeen Mahmud murder case an open and shut one within the first month of her killing. A terrorist cell allegedly operated by university graduates was arrested, with most of the suspects now in custody and having accepted responsibility for Sabeen’s murder amongst a number of heinous terrorist attacks. The murder of Sabeen – a social activist who ran the cafe T2F in Karachi – after hosting a talk on Balochistan had sent shock waves among liberal and progressive activists around the country. The quick arrests in the matter appeared to put to rest speculations about who might want her dead after hosting the programme on human rights abuses in Balochistan. The suspects arrested eventually have reportedly confessed that they killed Sabeen for opposing the Lal Masjid cleric and for having hosted a Valentine’s Day rally some time back. On Monday night, however, Mahmud’s former driver Ghulam Abbas was shot dead in the Bhittai Colony in Karachi. Abbas, who was also a police constable, was in the car and had remained unhurt when Sabeen was killed; he was reported to be a key witness in the murder case. Two men are said to have visited his house on Monday before killing him as he came out of a nearby mosque.
With the counterterrorism department confirming that Abbas was the prime witness in Sabeen’s murder case and key to identifying the main suspect, serious questions must be raised about the government’s commitment to resolving the case. Why was no protection available to a witness in one of the most high-profile murder cases in Pakistan’s recent history? The counterterrorism department has now raised alarm over the security of other witnesses, but why did this concern not strike these fine gentlemen earlier? What is strange is that, according to state reports, the main accused, Saad Aziz, has continued to accept responsibility for Sabeen Mahmud’s murder. Usually the killing of key witnesses in high-profile cases is to cover up tracks. If the accused is accepting responsibility, then what point is to be scored by anyone by killing a lead witness? In August, another warrant was issued for one of the fugitives in the case. The murder also comes at a strange time with the trial of the suspects almost complete. But it appears that those behind the attack on Sabeen Mahmud are still at large. Her supporters and those who share her vision for a more just Pakistan will continue to live in fear. This is why Ghulam Abbas’s murder is a tragedy that must be investigated in all honesty. Right now, it is also vital that other witnesses in the case be protected. There is now natural concern about others who may have anything to do with the case. The events are becoming murkier and murkier. We need to find the courage and the conscience to ensure the truth does not fade away with time as has happened so often in the past. It must be brought out in the open so that murder become a less common means to solve dissent or dispute.