NA body concerned over life threats to public figures

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights Thursday expressed concern over life threats to a number of public figures, activists and dissidents and called for investigation into the alleged “kill list” targeting some individuals.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights met under Acting Chairperson Shazia Marri in Parliament House Tuesday. Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari was also in attendance besides members of the committee.

Ms Shazia Marri chaired the meeting instead of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, who heads the committee, as he did not turn up and nominated Shazia Atta Marri for Thursday’s meeting. The existence of alleged “kill list” has been mentioned by UN Rapporteurs, former TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan and this week by The Guardian also.

The committee chairperson directed the interior secretary to have an early meeting with the complainants --- Farhatullah Babar and Afrasiab Khattak --- to take the matter forward. Dr Shireen Mazari said that death threats were condemnable regardless who was given such threats.

However, she said that she also condemned Twitter campaigns like #SanctionPakistan that aimed at harming the people. Farhatullah Babar responded that by making these remarks the minister seemed to imply that we had participated in the Twitter campaign. “This is absolutely wrong. We didn’t report it to the media let alone take part in such. Twitter campaign,” he said.

He said that plea to sanction the entire people was wrong but there should be no harm in sanctions against some rogue individuals who may have acted on their own without proper authority

Earlier, the National Assembly Committee on Human Rights took up the issue of an alleged ‘kill list” containing names of some politicians and activists, including former senators Farhatullah Babar and Afrasiab Khattak. Both had forwarded to the committee a Facebook post of Ehasanullah Ehsan in which he had claimed last month that he had been asked to lead a death squad to eliminate some individuals.

The “kill list” according to Ehsan’s post, included names of Farhatullah Babar, Afrasiab Khattak, Dr Syed Alam Mehsud and Mufti Kifayatullah. Explaining, Farhatullah Babar said that Ehsanullah Ehsan is no ordinary person. He is former spokesperson of Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who later formed splintered group Jamaat ul Ahrar, both designated as terror outfits, and has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks in Pakistan.

Farhatullah Babar said in April 2017 Ehsan had reportedly turned himself in to the security agencies and turned from a terrorist into a confidant of the secret agencies so much so that even while in captivity he was allowed to give media interviews to channels making some startling disclosures.

In January 2020, he said Ehsanullah Ehsan had escaped from supposedly a high security detention centre under mysterious circumstances. He said after his mysterious escape he had been giving media interviews and was active on Facebook.

Farhatullah Babar said in an interview to Al Jazeerah after his escape he had claimed that his release was the result of an agreement that granted him full legal immunity, a personal monetary stipend and a guarantee that he would be allowed to live as a ‘peaceful citizen’.

“Al Jazeerah had provided a detailed list of his allegations to the military and civilian authorities in Pakistan for comments but they did not respond,” he said. He said after the mysterious death of ex-senator Usman Kakar in Quetta on June 21, 2021, Ehsan in a Facebook post had said that Kakar’s name was included in the hit list maintained by his former handlers.

“A few days later in another tweet he had given names of other individuals on the list,” he said.

Farhatullah Babar said Usman Kakar’s family has already alleged foul play and claimed that he had been murdered. He said the provincial government had formed a judicial commission to probe the matter but disbanded it the other day after the family of the late Usman Kakar declined to appear before it citing reasons of trust.

“In view of this background we are deeply concerned over the alleged “hit list” containing our names also,” he said. He said five UN bodies in a joint letter dated May 29, 2019, to the government of Pakistan while raising human rights issues had also mentioned the “kill list”. “This is what makes it far too serious to be taken lightly,” he said.

He said that a few days ago the UK’s Guardian newspaper also carried a report about threats of elimination of some Pakistani dissidents living abroad. “The Foreign Office on Tuesday denied any such list but mere denial cannot allay suspicions”, he said and urged that the matter be investigated.

In the meanwhile, on the desecration a Hindu temple in Bong in Rahim Yar Khan district, the Committee was extremely perturbed to know that how a nine-year old child could be implicated in a blasphemy case who had allegedly pissed in a local seminary and who was consequently granted bail by a local court.

The committee said that this goes against the teachings of Islam as well as the principles laid by the Quaid. The committee was of the view that the administration could have prevented the incident by coordinating with the locals and influence of the area.

The committee directed that progress in the case should be shared with it and culprits and miscreants should be dealt with according to law. The committee was also briefed by the victims and their families on two incidents happened in Tharparkar in Sindh, one in a coal mining company in which Dodo Bheel died because of torture, and the other in Dadu district pertaining to a triple murder.

The committee sympathised with the victims and bereaved families and said that as the matter is with the court and therefore, considering the subjudice nature of the case, these should be thoroughly investigated by the police and justice be ensured. The Committee also sought report on the Noor Mukaddam murder case and after listening to the investigating police officer, it was decided to have an in-camera meeting.