Even though the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Rangers initially shied from siding with their personnel who are standing trial for the murder of a 22-year-old man, a move on Friday indicated that they are now openly backing them.
In a move that surprised every one in Anti-Terrorism Court I, a man who introduced himself as a Major from the legal branch, delivered a letter to the judge on Friday. The unnamed man has been attending all court proceedings of the case before the ATC and the Sindh High Court appellate branch.
During Friday's proceedings, he came in during the tea break just when Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso had called the defence counsel and the special public prosecutor (SPP) into his chambers. The man said to the judge that he had a letter to deliver to the court. The judge asked whether he had a letter of authorisation from his institution.
The "major" replied that even though he had the authorisation, he could not produce evidence of it at that very moment. The ATC judge then refused to accept the letter and advised the "major" to bring proof of authorisation.
Cross examination
Earlier on, the court heard the cross examination of a prosecution witness Gulnaz, a resident of Hijrat Town where the incident took place.
At the outset of the questioning, the defence counsel asked whether she had read her statement recorded by the police (under section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) and why she had not mentioned her husband's name in it.
She replied by saying that as she is illiterate, her statement was recorded by the police, and was then read out to her. Her father's name was recorded instead of her husband's since it was on her national identity card. The witness stressed that there had been a great hullaballoo at the police station when she had gone there.
When asked why she had been awake at 1:30 am (the time she allegedly saw the television footage of the killing), Gulnaz said that people in her neighbourhood normally went to bed after 3 am, because the water supply came on after midnight.
When asked how many times she saw the footage, she said that she saw the entire footage just once and could not bear to see it again. I was so terrorised that I was unable to see it again, she said.
She explained that she did not personally know the complainant (Sarfraz's brother Salik) and had decided to visit the police station because her 12-year-old son had told her that women from the neighbourhood were going there.
Defence lawyer Naimat Ali Randhawa asked Gulnaz whether she had liked the deceased which is why she had decided to become a witness for the prosecution. The question, which was posed in a rather hostile manner, instigated opposition from SPP Muhammad Khan Buriro and sparked tension in the court.
Despite the SPP's objection, Gulnaz asked the SPP to hold on and said that she was able to answer the question. She said that Sarfraz Shah was her son's age but she had never seen or met him. She coolly added that the defence should refrain from asking her such questions as she was an independent witness.
After a few questions about the location of the incident, the defence counsel told the woman that the Rangers were on duty and were merely trying to protect people.
"They are wolves, cruel and beasts," came the witness's fiery reply. "Our taxes are used to pay them and still they kill our sons."
When asked to compare this incident to the Kharotabad incident and other similar mishaps, she said that there was more brutality in this particular case because the boy had begged for his life. The woman was asked to compare the incident with the CIA Centre blast, which had occurred in the vicinity.
When asked whether she had seen television footage of the violence plaguing Karachi in the last few days, Gulnaz replied that she had reduced her television viewing since June 8 because the footage of the killing continued to haunt her. In response to another question regarding alleged terrorism in Hijrat Colony, Gulnaz affirmed that an air of terror prevailed after the incident.
The defence counsel tried to dismiss her statements by suggesting that the witness had a weak heart, and hence was easily terrorised. But she fired back by saying, "Does the Chief Justice Pakistan also have a weak heart since he ordered suo motu action in this case?"
During the interrogation, Gulnaz emphasised that even though she was not an eye-witness, she saw the entire footage on TV. "I came to the court on my own and my only interest is to see these brutal killers go to the gallows and nothing else," asserted Gulnaz.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 9th, 2011.
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