The purpose of government commissions, it seems, is to obfuscate rather than illuminate. They exist not to investigate but to give the impression of hard work. So, it was in the case of the judicial commission investigating the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad. The commission was supposed to find out who was responsible for the killing but in its final report has declined to do so. It was meant to wrap up in six weeks but has ended up taking six months. In the end, all the suspicions everyone had after Mr Shahzad was murdered remain but we are no closer to the truth. The commission has recommended giving Rs3 million in compensation to the dead journalist’s family but it has denied them the opportunity of getting justice.
The investigative process of the commission was flawed from the start. It faced inordinate and unexplainable delays in getting Mr Shahzad’s email and cell phone data, information that may have been crucial in solving his case but which could well have been scrubbed of anything incriminating by the intelligence agencies. When he was murdered, the initial reaction among journalists and human rights groups was to blame the military, since Mr Shahzad’s reporting focused on its alleged ties to militants. Indeed, just two days before he was killed, he had written a story on the infiltration of al Qaeda in the Pakistan Navy. The commission’s inconclusive report will do little to allay those suspicions.
By failing its mandate, the judicial commission has also failed in its task to help out vulnerable journalists. Having seen that a prominent reporter can be killed with no consequences for those involved is sure to have a chilling effect on the profession. Will those who report critically on the military refrain from doing so in the future for fear that they may end up in a ditch somewhere? The commission has also shown Mr Shahzad’s killers, whoever they may be, that they can operate with impunity. Already, Pakistan has been described as the most dangerous place in the world for journalists by Reporters without Frontiers, with 10 journalists having been killed here in the last decade. The failure of the commission may have ended up making it just a little more dangerous.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2012.
COMMENTS (24)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
At least wait for the report to be released, read it and then make up your mind. Instead of declaiming against it, put pressure on the government to make the report public.
@uzma Baig:
r u saying that gives someone right to kill a journalist ?
@IFTIKHAR-UR-REHMAN: I didn't think of that but you are right! A truly cynical commission would have done just that. No, these are men whose lips are 95% sealed with wax.
One must now expose who is responsible for this to direct one's ire appropriately.
Asif if you cant than better not to blame anyone with out any proof. If commission is not transparent than the case should be taken to the court. Its a vogue in Pakistan these days to blame everything on ISI just like on Amrrreeeikkaa, RAW, Mosaad, Taliban, Osama, Aliens etc etc
@Salman: how can we prove? can we interrogate every suspects and examine secret documents. That was the job of the commission. Even a Lahore Sub Inspector would have done a better job.
Prove that ISI was involved you all losers above ?
thats the reason no one wants the memo investigation from "parliamantry commission"
similar thing happens to FC commision, abottabad commission these so called elected representative has no intelect or courage to complete such investigation..all they need is TA/DA
but then people with jiyala mind set dont understand this :)
@Pakistani in US: you missed my point, probably you need to understand the difference between true honest journalism and fabricated, sponsored propaganda. When you do you wouldnt feel sorry for the loss of certain people as a sacrfice to save pakistan as we accept dieing soldiers as a price to save the country.
@ Rofl copter: Let it go? why should we? if we keep letting go of such things, THEY will be further emboldened. There will be nothing left to read beyond the Press Releases from the ISPR.
Thank God the Commission did not say that Saleem Shahzad committed suicide!!!!
@mind control: love your comments! I had posted some similar comments last night but they did not make it. Thanks and regards, Mirza
At least the Commission did not come to the conclusion that Saleem Shahzad committed suicide. Congratulations to all members of the Commission, they will realize their folly when a member of their family disappears and body is discovered after a few days. Pakistan Zindabad !
@Roflcopter: an absolutely brutal and insensitive comment. we pakistanis are so axiomatic in our approach...'we know', 'everybody knows'. never question 'do we really know?' and if so, 'how do we know?'. but then that's the behaviour of rational societies....
@Roflcopter: Reading your comments is like banging ones head against the wall.
@Roflcopter:
With people like you, Pakistan sure to achieve its new tag, 'Somalistan'.
Who killed saleem shahzad? I don't know but I know that it's definitely not the infamous nonstate actors or the Taliban. That leaves out one group who may have done it and no I am not talking about RAW or the zionists.
@Usman, not at all
@roflcopter. Seriously? ISI wasnt involved? this case has got "WARNING: ISI INVOLVED" written all over it. No one is going to touch this case with a pole.
wow seriously just let it go, ISI wasn't involved and your wishes of ISI being blamed in this report went unfulfilled...now stop crying.