Guns in the night

Extra-judicial ‘justice’ can never be a long-term solution for sectarian violence that the country has faced for long

The gunfight in which Malik Ishaq died along with his two sons on July 29 took place at night. Eleven others also died. At least six of those who were trying to get Malik Ishaq freed from custody were wounded. The gunfight happened in a remote area far from habitation — and witnesses — and the incident raises more questions than it answers. The death of Malik Ishaq removes from play, one of — allegedly — the most prolific sectarian killers. The banned organisation that he led, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), has been blamed for some of the most appalling sectarian acts of violence, is alleged to have links to al Qaeda and to be developing links with the Islamic State (IS). Malik Ishaq has spent many years in prison, but has rarely been convicted of anything he was accused of, in large part because witnesses were intimidated or the evidence was poorly collected and presented.



As the only account of the incident of how Malik Ishaq was killed comes from the police, it is difficult to avoid speculating that there were elements of ‘set-up’ about it, that the encounter may have been staged with the deliberate purpose of permanently removing a man whose toxic message and lethal activities continued unabated, despite being behind bars. Also dead was the deputy leader of the LeJ, Ghulam Rasool, and there will now be a battle for succession within the LeJ that is unlikely to be bloodless. This is the latest incident in the crackdown on militant and insurgent groups across the country and there will be many who welcome it, particularly those communities most affected by the violent activities of the LeJ. Groups such as the LeJ have become powerful because of serial failures by provincial and federal agencies to curb them or even restrict their activities in many instances. Whilst we must welcome the successes of the law-enforcement agencies, we also have a growing concern that our justice system seems to be failing in its job of bringing people like Malik Ishaq to justice. Extra-judicial ‘justice’ can never be a long-term solution for the problem of sectarian violence that the country has faced for long. The rule of law is for everybody to abide by, including the police, and it is flouted at our peril.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st,  2015.

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