PBC calls for making ‘Karachi incident’ report public

Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Vice Chairman Abid Saqi has urged the government to make public the report of a court of inquiry about the “unfortunate Karachi incident” that involved abduction of Sindh inspector general police (IGP) ahead of the arrest of PML-N’s leader Captain (retd) Safdar.

In a statement issued on Friday, Saqi also called for complete disclosure of the names of the officials of different agencies to face departmental action for detaining the IGP and pressuring him into signing Safdar’s arrest warrants.

Saqi said publication of the report unveiling names of the delinquent officials will be in line with the right to information as enshrined under Article 19-A of the Constitution.

“[This] will not only enhance confidence of the people in different Institutions but will also be a cause of deterrence for serving officials to remain within their lawful domain of  responsibilities while discharging official duties and not to indulge them in extra constitutional and illegal activities,” he said.

In an unprecedented development, the military said on November 10 that the officers of the Pakistan Rangers and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) involved in “Karachi incident” have been “removed”.

The decision to proceed against the officers was taken on the recommendations of the court of inquiry ordered by army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to “redress the IGP Sindh’s grievances”, in the backdrop of the October 18 Karachi incident, the ISPR said in the statement.

Safdar, the husband of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, was taken into custody early morning on Oct 19 from his hotel room in Karachi where he was staying with his wife for “violating the sanctity of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's mausoleum”, a day after an opposition parties’ rally.

The arrest had triggered an outcry from the opposition parties and Maryam’s spokesperson Muhammad Zubair had alleged in a purported audio message that the IGP had been kidnapped by the Rangers and forced into registering the FIR. Maryam had also endorsed the claim at a presser later that day.

In protest against his “humiliation and manhandling” of their chief, the top hierarchy of the provincial police had decided to go on leave en masse.  Bilawal, at the time, however, sought to dispel the impression that the move had been instigated by the provincial government.

Bilawal demanded that army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa and DG ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed hold an inquiry into the incident to find out “who were the two persons who had entered the house of the IGP and taken him away”.

Later on the same day, the army chief ordered an inquiry into the incident and directed the Karachi corps commander to “immediately inquire into the circumstances to determine the facts and report back as soon as possible.”

And on November 10, the ISPR issued a statement announcing that “based on the recommendations of the court of inquiry, it had been decided to remove the concerned officers from their current assignments for further departmental proceedings and disposal at GHQ [General Headquarters].”

“Assessing the response of police authorities against this developing yet volatile situation to be slow and wanting, in a charged environment, the concerned ISI/Rangers officers decided to act rather overzealously..

“They were indeed experienced enough to have acted more prudently and could have avoided creating an unwarranted situation that led to misunderstanding between the two state institutions,” the ISPR had added.