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The death of Sarfaraz Shah
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One year after Sialkot lynching: After Sarfraz Shah verdict, hope for justice?
Family demands Gujranwala’s ATC wrap up case as quickly as Karachi’s .
Mughees and Muneeb’s family still awaits justice. PHOTO: FILE
SIALKOT: The Sarfraz Shah verdict is a glimmer of hope for the family of two brothers who were brutally lynched to death by a mob in Sialkot on August 15 last year.
“The incident is not just one family’s issue, it concerns the entire society and thus justice should be dispensed at the earliest as was done by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi,” Khwaja Muhammad Amjad, uncle of the deceased brothers Mughees and Muneeb, told reporters at the Sialkot Press Club. The case is being heard by an anti-terrorism court in Gujranwala.
At the press conference, held to mark the first anniversary of the incident, Amjad said that it was unfortunate that while justice was yet to be served, local politicians had politicised the case for personal gains. “[PML-N’s MNA from Sialkot] Khwaja Asif is supporting us while Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan is siding with the accused,” he said.
Footage of the incident, filmed using a mobile phone video camera, was aired on television channels and went viral on social networking websites, sparking public fury. The video showed policemen standing on the sidelines as a cheering mob mercilessly lynched Mughees, 19, and Muneeb, 16, with iron rods at Doburji Chowk in Sialkot. Members of the mob accused the brothers of being robbers but investigations into the case proved otherwise.
So extreme was the outrage over the incident that the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of it and a senior police officer was suspended for having allowed such an incident to take place within his jurisdiction.
A year later, the bereaved family is hosting relatives and well-wishers at a Quran Khwani at their house in Hajipura, Sialkot. But grieved father Sajjad Butt continues to be haunted by the vicious manner in which his sons were killed and the slow dispensation of justice in the case.
“I have spent a year patiently and now, I have put our petition before the court of Allah Almighty. I have firm belief in His justice,” said the boys’ mother Fouzia Sajjad. “My sons used to mark Independence Day with much fervour. This year, nobody decorated our house.”
“The judiciary must be more attentive to cases such as these or else the people’s faith in the system could shatter,” says Dr Mehdi Hasan, member of the executive council of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). PPI (With additional reporting by Ali Usman in Lahore)
Published in The Express Tribune, August 16th, 2011.
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Reader Comments (22)
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oh my God, that incident make me sad again in this Ramzan.
when Kangroo courts will give justice to this old Grandfather.
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I prayed for them the first time I saw that video and I still do. May Allah give them the strength to bear the injustice of our society and may Allah help them in getting justice. Ameen
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Very sad state of affairs. However hope of any suo moto action etc to put criminals at task is only a dream. The incident took place at behest of Punjab CM and his verdict of dealing severely with anyone police finds at fault. The judiciary is not so ‘independent’ rather carrying a political agenda and acting mostly in favor of Shareefs. This is a painful incident for family in lawless Pakistan and they can not do much but pray to Allah. We all believe in final day of judgment and luckily Pakistani courts and judicial system will not be called ‘me lord’ that day. They will face the result of mayhem they caused on land.
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Whatever happens, happens for a reason. The black days and darker nights await us around the corner. Perhaps, this was nature’s way of preparing us for a bleak future that lies ahead. This incident has increased our stamina of being in-different by leaps and bounds. As Iqbal once said,
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Nobody can get Justice in Pakistan except the Rich. I am sorry but that’s a clear fact.
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Thanks to ET for popping this issue again.
When Ramadan started I was very happy but something by my brain reminded me about this cruel incident happened in this great month that made my feelings very sad. It shows all media is drama and is after popularity, many of the channels have stopped broadcasting about this issue nor doing anything to get their family justice even our judiciary is relaxing… they just started it with good pace but in the middle everything buried….don’t know why this incident delayed for a year…….
ET has done a great job, hope this will help the other sleeping media and judiciary to do the justice and pull this issue to finalization.
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Judiciary at its worst!!
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Brings tears to my eyes, makes me want to disassociate myself from our country. Politicians who interfere should be given most severe punishment..but then again I suppose courts are busy training themselves how not to interfere. Shame on the law.Recommend
@thundapani:
My Friend when I saw this incident I was thinking the same to disassociate but We need to see ourselves that we have only some bad eggs in our country and because of them we cannot forget the golden ones….These are Pakistani Peoples who saved the life of many during floods and many of them lost their lives by saving other….even not only in Pakistan…Search the story of the man in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia who save 7-8 peoples during floods and while saving for next one he lost his life….
But for sure we have to do something for our Education System to stop dumb heads productions in coming generation like these barbaric idiots who led this lynching.
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i think the barsi of these two muslim brothers shouldn’t be 15th august it should be the date of ramzan so every year we should be reminded of these two brothers and we should pray for them and their family even i forgot about them for few days but it has reminded me of every thing … what has our country done for their justice how did every thing go i use to follow every blog but i couldn’t see this injustice so i left following it but please tell me the islamic date of their deaths so we can all pray for them every year at least until the last ramzan i get to see
aameenRecommend
i am sure they will release sarfaraz killer also.
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Justice delayed is justice denied
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such a sorry state…
http://tinyurl.com/3e9lqt7
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Why these young boys were lynched to death, this is the TOP question? Many stories cirulation around on the internet and neither the govt. nor media/ press seem to clarify the situation. Why the judiciary is delaying the case, is the second TOP question.
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I lack words. :’(
just tears
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…
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Its like Mecca 1200 years ago. In fact the “infidels” were better than us -
At the very least, let’s get together every Friday and exchange our criminals so that our judiciary can sleep easy and wait for the Medhi
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Vienna,16-08-2011
It looks as though the boys were CIA agents inviting the
fury of Pakistan law enforcement agencies to participate
in the lynching. How else to rationalize the behaviour?
Taravadu Taranga Trust for Media Monitoring,TTTMM
India –Kulamarva Balakrishna
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The Killers of inocent brothers should be punish at any cost.
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@Sufyan Arabi: I wonder why one needs to know the date of Islamic year only, to be reminded of this incident. It took place on the 4th of Ramazan anyways.
@ Sohrab: There should be no TOP questions, no IFs and no BUTs. This is simply beyond humanity. Nothing in the world can justify this kind of behaviour even if someone comes up with the answers, this kind of violence cannot be condoned. The next thing we would witness, otherwise, is our politicians being lynched in every other street of the country!! The problem with our people is that they are keen to know the background because their sympathies are conditional. Public reacted initially when the footage was aired because the boys were deemed innocent. When the suspicions arose, the sentiment toned down to “they had it coming”. We need to believe in humanity!
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People have become ruthless…this is beyond my imagination. How men can turn into animal !Allah saves us from his wrath when innocent people are murdered …please. help a usAllah help in becoming a better. Nation
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since the last year, I am still grieved and waiting for the justice to come.
The Sharif brothers also visited the the victim family and assured of the justice.
But where are they, their promise of justice, no body knows.
May give Allah give family lots of patience to bear such a big grief.
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