Pakistan

‘Witnesses of Sialkot lynching on ECL’

“It is feared that some people will run away from the country so we have put their names on the ECL,” Malik said.

Express August 23, 2010

Witnesses of the lynching of two brothers in Sialkot have been put on the Exit Control List (ECL), said Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday.

“It is feared that some people will run away from the country so we have put their names on the ECL,” Malik said while speaking to reporters after offering condolences to the family of the two teenage boys – Mughees Butt and Muneeb Butt – who were lynched by a mob earlier this month in Sialkot. He added that 10 accused have been arrested, four of whom are policemen. “In this whole situation, the policemen standing there are more to blame,” Malik said.

“This crime is too grave. No law in the world allows this. It is inhuman,” the minister said. Even if someone commits a crime, it is the job of the police to prove it and the court’s job to punish,” he added.

Accompanying the interior minister, Governor Punjab Salman Taseer also strongly condemned the incident and said: “I apologise to my people for this awful incident. These murders have brought disgrace to the nation all over the world.”

Meanwhile, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that those accused in the brutal murders will not be spared. In a press conference at the house of MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Shahbaz said the provincial government has formed an investigation committee to probe into the incident.

The committee will be in addition to the committees formed earlier by the Supreme Court and the Punjab police. Additional IG CID of the provincial police will head the committee and nominate three officials for investigations.

However, the mother of the two boys has no trust in the investigations. “The police were there when my sons were tortured. I have no faith in what they do,” she said. The video of the incident shows police and Rescue 1122 personnel at the scene watching the boys being beaten to death. A police van is also seen behind the truck carrying the bodies across town.

Spokesperson of Rescue 1122, Faheem Jehanzeb, said that the director general of their department Dr Rizwan Naseer has formed an inquiry committee to investigate the issue.

Meanwhile a large number of people staged a protest against the police for their role in the lynching of the two brothers. They also attacked an office of the Rescue 1122 and ransacked the furniture.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2010.

Correction: September 13, 2010

An earlier version of this article stated the name of the brothers as Moiz and Muneeb. The names are Mughees and Muneeb and have been corrected.

COMMENTS (17)

Waqar | 14 years ago | Reply @ Ghania It would be interesting to know where you cite your sources from and whether they are credible. Deceased Bilal's (May Allah, Most Merciful, Most High, grant him Jannah) wife and his father Shaukat Ali Bhatti have given questionable and contradictory statements to both the media and the judicial inquiry investigative panel. You cannot flippantly pass judgment that the tow brothers were robber/murderers, entirely based on the accounts of the perpetrators themselves, without investigating the evidence from both afflicted parties. I suggest you Google 'Text of inquiry report on Sialkot tragedy' By Justice Kazim Ali Malik

Ghania | 14 years ago | Reply @ Shahzeb, You got me all wrong... i wasnt trying to justify that inhumane act. I was just trying to show how we all are being unfair to the family of deceased Bilal. An article "New controversy about Sialkot killings arises" from "THE NEWS" of 1st September 2010, page number 12 says "Shaukat, whose one son was killed on Augest 15, and the secnd is seriously injured while the third has been arrested laments the attitude of police and others, especially media, for giving a cold shoulder to him. In an interview with this correspondent he said neither the commission called him nor the police. "I was not allowed to meet my son who has been arrested because the police did not allow me to get it", said Bilal's father. He said that his family was passing through such a miserable period but no one was ready to even listen to him." Secondly, the same article says that the whole village was ready to record their statements on oath, the family of the deceased Bilal claims that the two youths were dacoits and were caught red-handed on the occasion of looting Bilal and his brother, and the report of civil intelligence agency has also declared that the two boys were dacoits. Thirdly, when media arrived on the funeral of Muneeb and Mughees, they kept on asking for those boys who were playing cricket on that day with them, but the family couldnt produce a single one infont of them. What else do we need? can all the villagers, family of Bilal and the facts that i placed before you be false? Now i come to my point, that even if they were dacoits and they killed Bilal on that day, they shouldnt have been treated like that. Since we all are muslims, Islam teaches us to be fair and do justice. So the people should've brought those criminals before judge and then after a fair trial, their punishment should've been decided. But unfortunately, when someone goes through this type of situation, his rational mind thinks that how many people under same circumstances get justice from our courts, police and etc? So this is the point, people here are forced to take justice in their own hands, and trust me with all this currupt system around, we have no reason blame them for this. The ones who should be blamed for this incident are not these people, its the currupt system who failed to provide them justice.

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Shahzeb | 14 years ago | Reply @Ghania It is ridiculous to even try to justify this barbaric act . Thats why we (or civilized world) have police and judicial system . No I do not find any justification in this .

Ghania | 14 years ago | Reply And i request The Express Tribune to show people the true picture of this event, unlike other news channels, specially Geo and Jung people... i felt so bad when i learned about the people who were shot by these two boys(Mughees and Muneeb). The people who were injured by their firing had also recognized them as the culprits.

Ghania | 14 years ago | Reply I feel so bad that how biased our media is... although it was inhumane, the way those people killed these boys, but we should also look at the other side of the picture. It is clear now that these two boys tried to snatch belonging of a man Bilal on gun point. Coincidently cousins of bilal and some other people who were returning from some sort of religiour gathering reached at the spot where Bilal was being looted by these two boys. When bilal saw oher people, he got encouraged and got hold of the younger boy Muneeb. As his brother was caught by bilal and other people were gathering at the spot, Mughees got confused and started shooting randomly, one of these shots hit bilal and ruptured through his heart and he died on spot, and others hit 3 other people, including a minor boy of 10 years old. After that people got hold of those two criminals and called 1122 rescue services. When the rescue workers arrived, they took Bilal, three other injured people and the two boys Mughees and Muneeb. After sometime, the news of Bilal's death enraged the people, among those people there were some friends, reletives and family members of Bilal and the other people who were injured by the firing of Mughees. They lost their control because Mughees has killed and injured their loved ones. So they took the two boys away from the rescue worker's custody and beated them to death. Now i know that it was cruel and unfair, but lets think about those people who lost their loved ones from the firing of these two boys? Why wasnt Bilal's family's interview shown on TV channels? He was married just few months ago, why wasnt his wife shown on TV? This is so unfair... the real innocent was Bilal, who lost his life because of Mughees and Muneeb. And about criticizing the men who beat them to death, they were relatives of Bilal and other, the one who was shown in video in white shalwar qameez was Shamz, who was uncle of that 10 year old boy, who was shot by them... dont you think his anger is justified as we all know our police is not capabile of giving us justice. So please think about the other side of this event, which was kept under dark by the media people.

Tauseef Khan | 14 years ago | Reply What guarantee can our honourable interior give me that I won't be lynched or killed in cold blood when I come back to Pakistan after my studies. I am an Ahmadi and just last week two Ahmadis were murdered in cold blood because of their faith. One was a doctor in Karachi and the other one was visiting his lands in Sanghar from USA. Both were peaceful law-abiding citizens. http://www.thepersecution.org/ And guess what this website is blocked in Pakistan.

Raj Abbas Khan | 14 years ago | Reply Spoecial Thanks to the Media that this case was in spotlight for long period of time. Many people came to know this inhuman act of such blatant violence. Those 2 brothers were put through hell. Sincere condolences to the Family. Cant wait for September trial. The police should be questioned strictly. They are resposible for openly lynching. They should have prevented. Even the people of Sialkot should have thought for a second that it is a month of Ramadhan. I strond oppose and condemn such act of violence. God bless Pakistan the most beautiful country in the world.

Shahzeb | 14 years ago | Reply It come down to sort of nation we are . Shame and see the people we elect .Perfect we deserve this . No result can soothe the pain parents and family must now be feeling .

Waqar | 14 years ago | Reply @SK "our honorable Interior minister is personally involved- history tells us that anything he gets involved gets resolved very quickly," Exactly what is honorable about your Interior Minister? when the only reason he gets things done 'quickly' is when he gets lambasted by the nation for his incompetence and very casual approach to incidents. A quick Google on your Interior Minister will reveal some pretty interesting facts about his shady past.

faisal | 14 years ago | Reply Culprits must be brought to justice.they should be killed in such way that no one ever can dare to commit such brutal crime..they must be killed infront of the people..regards faidsal minhas.

Omer Haider | 14 years ago | Reply Dear Rehman Malik, Please don't delay. We know Pakistani style enquiries. It takes years. You have a ability to fight with talibans as well. This time you have witnesses , videos and all proofs. We really want to see INSAAF in the holy month

Imran Sadiq | 14 years ago | Reply I'm settled in UK and was planning to go back home. I worked hard hare and achieved the target. I'm happy here in non Muslim country. I know UK is non Muslim country but they love human being.

Eeman | 14 years ago | Reply Witness on ECL? ROFL.

Ali Haider | 14 years ago | Reply This committee, that committee, a new committee. Have these committees ever worked?

khadija imam | 14 years ago | Reply Mr rehman: ": " a formal investigation": hmm...sounds like a familiar term. of course, we have all heard it before. at blast sites, at places of brutal acts of violence. sadly(and i say this with the deepest regret) the words are no longer sufficient to provide the much needed assurance. some action perharps?

Sultan Ahmed. | 14 years ago | Reply Hundred and hundred of thousand have seen the occurrence so,according to my mind,no more need of further evidence, it is an open secret.

SK | 14 years ago | Reply I am so satisfied now that our honorable Interior minister is personally involved- history tells us that anything he gets involved gets resolved very quickly, be it Karachi riots with 100+ deaths in a week or bomb blasts' investigations etc. May these so called leaders face similar situation at least for once and they will learn the value of life and loss of a child.

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