Pakistan

Raymond Davis case: The forgotten victim

Family of bystander who was crushed to death yet to get justice.

Rana Yasif March 18, 2011

LAHORE:

The heirs of Ibadur-Rehman, the man who had been crushed to death by a would-be rescuer of Raymond Davis, are being neglected by all political parties, even those seeking to capitalise on the Davis affair, claimed Mashood-ur-Rehman, Ibad’s younger brother.

“Political parties do not care whether my family will get justice or not,” said Mashhood in an interview with The Express Tribune. “Politicians are working for their vote bank.”

He said that the poor masses of this country were disappointed whenever they needed the assistance of ruling parties. Lashing out at the PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, he said that Sharif routinely left for abroad whenever sensitive developments occurred in the country.

When asked whether they would make a deal if offered, he adamantly claimed that they would never do this as did the families of the other victims. He said that they would never sell our brother’s blood and would fight till the last drop of their blood.

Mashhood said that their family decided to protest on the streets and will remain on the streets till they were granted justice. He said that their mother wept inconsolably for her son Ibad. When asked if his relatives would back him if he comes on roads, he replied that they were united. He claimed that his family members and what he called “all Pakistanis” would pour out onto the streets and join them.

“They would kill us like the wife of Faheem if justice was not awarded them,” he said, apparently alleging that the wife of one of Davis’ victims, who had committed suicide, may have been murdered.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif met with Mashhood’s family a few days ago, promising them justice. After the release of Davis, however, Mashhood is not hopeful.

None of the US officials allegedly in the car that killed Ibad have been arrested.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (12)

Uza Syed | 13 years ago | Reply @Palvasha von Hassell: "........ our colonial legacy of subservience?" ------ what are you referring to? ----- Habit of blaming anything and all our failings on our colonial past is the biggest legacy of that past. Here in this case where is 'colonial subservience' comes into play at all? ------- If anything it proves a legacy of 'subservience' to anything in the name of religion ----- everything in the religion is too sacred to question. The settlement is made under our own very laws ----- don't you support them?! ------ which make it possible for a murderer to buy his freedom and immunity from punishment if he is wealthy enough and finds greedy heirs to bargain for so called "Blood money" ----- the test has to be a conflict of such magnitude between two very rich.

Uza Syed | 13 years ago | Reply Yes, indeed, Ibad-ur-Rehman is the only innocent victim of this tragedy and his heirs are the poor people who lost their loved one for no rhyme or reason and they are the ones who are ignored by us all including the 'champions' of justice and Islamic laws and what not. The other two got, as far as I am concerned, what they deserved ----- they were criminals from families who were most definitely with shady backgrounds and cunning enough to hit a juicy bargain for themselves and hopefully thanking their lucky stars if not the fallen bandits. @Anum Hameed. Thank you for giving a jolt to our collective amnesia. I wish that there were many like you who would keep on keeping our memory fresh with this, ghairatless, commander of his brand of "ghairat brigade" and his activities in the past and present. It's important to keep the past in right perspective so that our present and future are also not manipulated by such manipulators for completion of their own designs.

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M Ali Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Goes to show just how opportunistic and fiendish our so-called 'Ghairat Brigades' of the JI,JUI,PTI etc are. Nothing but a bunch of spineless shouting contestants.

S. Asghar | 13 years ago | Reply @Bee: Stop baseless propaganda. They have appealed to be part of RD case, and High Court rejected their appeal. Let's not play with the real victim of whole drama. May his soul rest in peace, and all these moral preachers should get stuffed (.........with their morals)

Babloo | 13 years ago | Reply This is really sad. Ibadur Rehman, is the only real victim of this tragedy. The robbers got compensated. The innocent, Ibadur, did not get any justice. Sharia on land, drones in the sky. Welcome to Pakistan.

Bee | 13 years ago | Reply There have been many reports that the family of this victim had been paid compensation much earlier. My full sympathies are with them. But I cannot help but think that the fact that this family has been quiet of so long indicates that there had been a pay-off earlier and now that they have seen the millions paid to the other family they feel shortchanged. We have to stop asking for money from others. It reflects badly on our morals. Why was this family not protesting earlier?

Palvasha von Hassell | 13 years ago | Reply All my sympathies for Ibad-ur-Rehman's family at this outrageous, callous and unjust treatment at the hands of the Pakistani authorities, who have been so anxious to please their masters. How long will it take to shake off our colonial legacy of subservience? In Tunisia, it took only the desperate self.immolation of one man(!) to ignite a rebellion.

Anum Hameed | 13 years ago | Reply Hamid Gul, worked for CIA for so many years and yet claims to be a vanguard of Pakistan’s interest. His mentor Zia destroyed the peaceful fabric of society. Gul promotes radical Islam but claims he is for establishing Caliphate. He relies on sectarian Taliban and public enemy Al-Qaida organizations to meet his objectives. I wonder how he justifies bomb blasts, attacking mosques, and killing innocent Muslims help bring Umah together.

Ashraf | 13 years ago | Reply Pakistan is not a nation where justice prevails. Let the family members commit suicide. Nobody cares in Pakistan. The politicians and the military will be laughing and counting their US dollars.

SA | 13 years ago | Reply Shahbaz Sharif did what he's really good at doing, making promises of justice. Next he's going to do what he's even better at, i.e. forget about his promise. As for Ibad's family, they need to do what our nation is best at, SABR i.e.!!!!

Critical Observor | 13 years ago | Reply Rana thank you for pointing to this important issue. I wondered why no one was interested in speaking up for the only true innocent victim of this entire drama, unlike Faizan and Faheem who were intelligence operatives. But for the sake of the family, I would say they better remain silent. Punjab government, intelligence, judiciary are all a big criminal gang - as has been proved vy Davis's release - and let the bereaved family not suffer more. It wuold be better if the family moved elsewhere, to Islamabad or some less torturous place.

Pakistani | 13 years ago | Reply I was thinking about this case and mentioned it. While all the screams against Davis, little attention was paid to the Rehman's death and the drivers in the car.

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