Sahiwal incident

Letter October 30, 2019
Without justice even a trillion dollar economy means nothing

ISLAMABAD: In January, Mohammad Khalil, his wife and their four children were travelling with their neighbor Zeeshan, who was driving the car, when Counter Terrorism Department personnel stopped the car and opened fire at the passengers presuming them to be terrorists. Khalil’s three children Umair, Muneeba and Jaziba had survived the attack but Khalil, his wife, Nabeela, their daughter Areeba and their neighbor, Zeeshan, died.

On Thursday, an anti-terrorism court gave the accused the “benefit of the doubt” and acquitted all six personnel of the CTD. Pakistan cannot progress without providing justice for incidents like the Model Town and Sahiwal. We can improve our economy; I never had a doubt about that, but my doubts are blurred when it comes to justice for the common man. Without justice even a trillion dollar economy means nothing. Now the government has decided to challenge the decision in a higher court. Let us wait for the outcome.

Muhammad Seerat Nawaz

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2019.

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