Attack on lawyer

Would the military, which has said that the ex-colonel is unstable, really act so openly and with so little subtlety?

Strange, almost surreal events never seem to come to a halt in our country. In the latest mystery to unfold, the car of lawyer Colonel (retd) Inamur Raheem was apparently burnt in Rawalpindi when his son was driving back home. Three days earlier, the former colonel was beaten up, allegedly, he says, because of the petition that he filed in the Islamabad High Court, seeking a review of the extension in service given by the federal government to Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The police are investigating the incidents; the general secretary of the district bar association has requested security for Colonel (retd) Inam, and naturally enough, condemned the incidents.

The former army officer has said on record that all this is happening because of the petition that he has filed and that the attacks on him and his son are not any coincidence. In a report in The New York Times, he was quoted as being warned by a senior army official some months ago, to refrain from filing petitions in the courts. We know, especially from the tragic case of journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, that those who challenge certain narratives of the establishment tend to be at the receiving end of the stick, even if this involves a challenge in a superior court. But, one could argue that the whole story, in this case, may just be a little hard to believe. Would the military, which has already said that the ex-colonel is unstable, really act so openly and with so little subtlety? Would the retired colonel be targeted so directly — especially since his petition has not even been heard yet — or is this simply an effort to draw attention to the colonel, publicise his petition, and perhaps, in the process, defame the military and draw it into a confrontation with the judiciary? This just shows how difficult it has become in a lawless state to tell what is happening. An allegation of criminal assault has been made. We must hope that the police will be able to get to the bottom of the matter and clear up all doubts that exist.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2012.