Adil Najam
Just saw a shocking and sad news report that suggests that an official government car, reportedly in the use of the Syed Safwanullah, Federal Minister of Housing and Works, reportedly being driven by one of his relatives, crushed to death a 6-year old child, whose mutilated body was found two days later in the same car.
The misbahavior of those in power has been something we have written about before as we did with the antics of our Law Minister (also here). We have sometimes been surprised that those in power actually read this blog and sometimes respond (as the MQM MNA from Karachi did on the ATP post about him). We are not sure if we will hear from Minister sahib (also affiliated with MQM) this time, but we will certainly be keeping watch on developments.
To be fair, let me say that the facts reported in this item are still unclear enough that one cannot be fully sure of where the blame lies. But it is also fair that the facts as laid out in by The News are disturbing enough that we must not ignore them and must demand more clarity and information from the Minister as well as the police.
The statements from the police suggest that they may actually conduct an open and fair enquiry. That things are still shrouded in mystery two days after the event, however, does not bode well. Having praised Islamabad police recently, I certainly hope they do not disappoint.
Here are the details from The News story:
Mystery shrouds the death of a six-year-old boy, who was crushed by a federal minister’s official limousine allegedly driven by a woman relative of the VIP, even two days after the occurrence. Both the police and parents of the child have no clue about the person in the driving seat. Reportedly, the woman driving the vehicle which hit the boy, stopped before putting him in the Land Cruiser and speeding away. On Wednesday, the mutilated and decomposed body of the boy was found by the police in the same Land Cruiser bearing green registration plate (of Government of Pakistan) – GP-2087 – at G-8 Markaz.
When contacted, Federal Minister for Housing and Works Syed Safwanullah said the Land Cruiser was not a full-time staff vehicle allocated to him. “It was rarely used by me and my family,” he said.
The FIR lodged with the Margalla police station confirmed the child – Izzatullah, an Afghan national – was crushed to death by a woman driver. But the complaint lodged by the minister’s aide with another police station — the Secretariat — of the federal capital, relates a different story. Lodged on November 29, the minister’s aide claims the official Land Cruiser along with the driver was missing since November 28 when the accident actually occurred. The Land Cruiser and the body were found exactly four hours after the report of the minister’s aide.
The shocking incident took place on the main road of the capital’s G-9/4 sector near ‘Tuesday Bazaar’ where hundreds of people witnessed a minor boy being crushed by a Land Cruiser driven by a woman, who then put the wounded boy in her vehicle and sped away, Habibullah, grandfather of the victim, claimed while talking to this correspondent after receiving the body from the PIMS hospital.
Meanwhile, Habibullah, resident of 178, street 93, G-9/4, Islamabad lodged a complaint with the Margalla police station saying, “On Tuesday November 28 at a
bout 4pm, a Land Cruiser bearing registration number GP-2087 hit my grandson — Izzatullah, 6, son of Hadayatullah near Peshawar Mor and sped away after putting him in the vehicle”. He said in his written complaint that his family friend found the Land Cruiser parked on the double road near G-8 Markaz. Quoting his three sons who were accompanying the deceased, he confirmed a woman was driving the Land Cruiser.
Conversely, staff of the minister’s house lodged a complaint with the Secretariat police station through a supervisor of Pak PWD, claiming that the Land Cruiser and driver were both missing since last Tuesday when the accident occurred. Muhammad Afzal, Supervisor Pak PWD workshop I-11, submitted a written application saying the Land Cruiser bearing registration number GP-2087 was in the use of federal minister for housing and works, Syed Safwanullah.
He said, “On November 29, Jafar Hussain (claiming to be a son and unofficial PSO of the minister), summoned him at the minister’s house (6, Minister’s Enclave) and directed me to file a complaint with the concerned police station that the Land Cruiser along with the driver — Tariq Mehmood — is missing since November 28”. The police registered the report (number 31 dated 29-11-2006) at 8.30pm. Syed Safwanullah while talking to this correspondent denied any woman was driving the Land Cruiser and said his driver was heading to the workshop when the incident took place.
Police insiders aver that a daughter or close relative of the minister was driving the vehicle even as the minister claimed: “There is no woman in my house.” Hidayatullah, father of the victim, said while talking to The News that his son was going to ‘Tuesday Bazaar’ along with his cousins, less than 10 years of age, when the Land Cruiser trampled him. He was sure that a woman was driving the green numbered vehicle.
SSP Islamabad Sikandar Hayat told The News that law was equal for all. He said the police would apprehend Tariq Mehmood, the driver of the vehicle and then inquire about the claim of aggrieved party that a woman was driving the vehicle. “The case will be dealt with according to the law,” he claimed. The victim was student of class-III at a local school, Habibullah, grandfather of the victim said. He said they were Afghans belonging to a poor family.
The hospital sources, quoting the external autopsy report disclosed that the minor had not died on the spot but expired after about 12 hours of the accident and they kept the body for more than 20 hours. The police, however, have registered the case against ‘unknown’ driver under Section 322/201/279 PPC and started investigation.
The story speaks for itself, which is why I have quoted it in full here. I will be keeping an eye out for more details on this. Readers, if you read or hear anything do please share. Vigilance and a demand for information is all that we can do, but let us never be negligent in doing either; because our silence would not just be complacency, it will be complicity.
According to a news report things are turning Paki style and the father and grandfather of the six-year- old Afghan boy killed after being hit by a government-owned vehicle in Islamabad last week are being “influencedâ€
Deeda-i-Beena, you are right.
I hope I did not sound arrogant in saying that we will keep an eye out for more developments on this. At a minimum it was to say that if we hear anything more on this we will report it here; more than that it was the hope that as readers hear anything they would share. I have no pretensions that something in this little blog is going to change things dramatically. But somewhere I sustain the hope that if enough of us – in our blogs, in our conversations, in our anger – are and remain sufficiently agitated about injustice where we see it then, eventually, even in some very very small way, we will at least make a nescience of ourselves. For me personally, the saddest attitude is merely to say that ‘this is how it is and this is how it will be; nothing we do will make a difference, therefore lets do nothing.’ We at ATP reject this attitude. We cannot do much, but that which we can do, we must. Even if it is only to highlight injustice when we see it. Call me an idealist (I have been called worse) but I do believe that speaking out is a first and important step in change.
Phil,
You are right. People involved in such cases should be tried by courts for murder or manslaughter and punished. But the question is you have laws on the statute books in Pakistan, which enable the murderers and killers go off the hook by paying compensation to the victim’s families. What I was trying to say in my comment was that our outrage should not only be directed at the culprits and their mentors but also at the unjust and barbaric laws, which work in favor of the perpetrator and not the victim.
Have you noticed that the mullahs on this thread have suddenly gone quiet because a so-called “Islamic law” is involved here?
[quote comment=”13402″]Folks,
You must have read by now that the mysterious woman who was seen driving the government vehicle has been identified. She is the wife of an aide to the federal minister in question. According to the report, “baji” used to use the vehicle for personal errands and was a bad driver. The minister does not seem to be directly involved. So, let’s leave him alone unless he tries to influence the course of justice in this case.
But do you know what course justice would take? Under the Qisas and Diyat laws, again promulgated by that great “merde Momin”, one can pay compensation to the heirs of the person murdered or killed and go free. Such crimes are treated as crimes against individuals, not against the state or society. This is how this case will be settled. US$ 5,000 to 10,000 will be paid to the parents of the child and “baji” will be free to continue her joyrides. It is all legal in the land of pure and holy.[/quote]If we think, as the victim or the criminal that we can earn freedom by giving or recieving a few thousand dollars, then we have a psychological problem with how this world works. The murderes should be put into jails for a certian period of time that helps them ‘realize’ what wrong they have done.
This is not the only high profile car accident murder in Pakistan in a week’s time.
The miniter to whoms this car belonged is as much responsible for the the death of the nondescript as that ‘baji’. There is no reason to let the car out of his sight and driven by someone not belonging to his family, or his driver.
The least the minister could do is present the criminal to the courts of justice, if he is really true to his job… -.-
During the initial assault on Talibans, US gave out $10 for each “colateral damage.” The rate jumped to $100 a year ago and after hitting weddings, upto $1000 per person was payed to the familes of the deceased… I guess father of this child will receive few thousands rupees plus sympathies. Being an Afghan refugee, he will end up being harassed and even deproted if he pushes for justice.
Let us hope that by highlighting their plight, at least other relatives of the bureaucrats will voluntarily reduce their fringe benefits