Four activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were killed in an encounter near Northern Bypass on Thursday night, said the Rangers in a statement issued on Friday. This is the first time since the Karachi operation began two years ago that the paramilitary force has admitted to killing political activists in an encounter. Rangers officials said that the suspects killed were involved in the targeted killing of their own party’s legal aid committee member in broad daylight.The Rangers’ spokesperson claimed that the encounter took place when their troops conducted an operation over the presence of criminals involved in the targeted killing of advocate Syed Ali Hasnain Shah Bukhari, who was gunned down in Korangi on March 4. One of the cases Bukhari had been working on before his death was a missing persons’ case on behalf of the MQM. A statement issued by the Rangers revealed that, in addition to the killing of Bukhari, the suspects were involved in numerous cases of target killings and the attack on a bus carrying police commandos in Chakra Goth. The atmosphere in Karachi is becoming tense day by day. A pattern of exterminating suspects through encounters is becoming more common these days. The controversial shortcut of staged encounters to avoid court procedures is not acceptable in any case. It is being presumed that a random encounter is the only suitable option to eliminate terror and crimes in the light of an ineffective judicial system. The argument cannot be justified. Rather, an impartial investigation needs to be conducted into the claims of the MQM that has repeatedly been saying that its workers have been in the custody of law enforcement agencies for months and now they are being killed through alleged shootouts. It is an eminently fit case for a judicial inquiry. If the charges levelled by the MQM prove true, the whole operation and its objectives will become controversial and the government will lose credibility. No institution can be allowed to act arbitrarily and in violation of the law. The killing of suspects through shootouts is not a good option and can bring disastrous results. Every accused must be produced in court and tried as per the law of the land. No one should be allowed to indulge in carrying out on-the-spot justice. The federal government needs to wake up to its responsibilities. It is high time that the state should intervene and constitute a judicial inquiry committee to investigate the killings of MQM workers. The claims and counterclaims by the Rangers and MQM must be thoroughly probed to clarify the situation. If the government fails to enforce the state writ, its consequences will be horrible and will lead the country to more chaos.
pk.shafaqna.com
