We all know why Shamshad Begum died. The masked gunmen who broke into her house in Hangu district and shot her dead alongside five family members, some of them minors, were obviously associated with the Taliban militants who had been threatening her for some time. The policewoman drew their wrath because of her role as part of a security team that had apprehended various militants at police checkposts in an area where the terrorist hold remains firm.
Beyond revenge, the ruthless murders were also intended to send out a clear message. It is one that has been spelled out in blood. The intention is to deter others from adopting the same devotion to duty as that exhibited by Shamshad Begum in her action against terrorists. The fact that she was a woman working in a field not common for her gender, especially in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, perhaps also left her open to attack. We have seen before the militant targeting of working women in many areas where the Taliban have exerted their hold.
The crime needs to be investigated. The demoralising impact it will have on others in the same line of work is a major concern. So, too, is the evidence that the militants seem able to act without any check on their activities. We wonder if the threatening messages the policewoman had received earlier had been followed up and if her complaints had been heard. She does not appear to have been offered any additional protection. Had this been the case her life may have been saved. In all this there is a message the authorities need to heed. It is hard to believe there was no information available about terrorist operations in Hangu. Agencies must have been assigned tasks in this regard. Their failure to pick up the danger to Shamshad Begum must be examined.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2011.
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