Opinion A voice silenced

Islamabad on Sunday and his body,which bore marks of torture,was thrown by the roadside at Sarai Alamgir,more than 200 km away. The ISI is suspected,Dawn reported on June 3: “Zohra Yusuf,head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan,added to speculation that the ISI may have had a hand in the death of Shahzad… ‘We don’t have any conclusive evidence. But the circumstances seem to point to state security agencies because there have been other cases where journalists have been picked up,’ she told Reuters. ” The ISI had issued a rare denial on June 2,reported The Express Tribune: “ ‘It’s regrettable that some sections of media have taken upon themselves to use the incident for targeting and maligning the ISI,’ the statement said. Shahzad came under ISI scrutiny in 2010 when he wrote in the Asia Times Online that Pakistan had freed a detained Afghan Taliban commander’.”

Pervez Musharraf P. O.

The News reported on May 31 that Pakistan’s former army chief and president had finally been declared a proclaimed offender: “The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC),No-III,Rawalpindi… declared former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf a proclaimed offender in the Benazir Bhutto murder case… The judge also ordered that an advertisement announcing that Musharraf was a proclaimed offender be published in three major newspapers…”

The arrest warrants against Musharraf could not be put into action because of the lack of an extradition treaty between Pakistan and Britain,which meant the warrants could not be delivered to him by the British government. The ATC was thus requested by the prosecution to declare Musharraf a proclaimed offender. The report further added: “The prosecutors told the court Musharraf was intentionally trying to avoid arrest,which he had admitted during a TV interview… Musharraf had said: ‘I know about court trials in Pakistan,and I will not go to Pakistan or face court trial.’ The prosecutors also presented a CD of the interview to the court.”

retired,Hurt

Pakistan’s star cricketer Shahid Afridi quit the game,in all its forms,this week. Dawn reported on May 31: “Shahid Afridi told news reporters on Monday he was retiring from all international cricket,saying he was dejected after being replaced as one-day captain following a fiery clash with coach Waqar Younis… ‘I am dejected and hurt and whatever I said about the coach was in the best interest of the team.’ ” Afridi had retired from Test cricket after Pakistan was heavily defeated by Australia in July 2010.

PNS Mehran attack

The News reported on May 31 that a former Pakistan navy commando,Kamran Ahmed,had been arrested in the PNS Mehran case along with his brother,Zaman Ahmed and three friends for allegedly providing maps of the base to the attackers. Kamran was also picked up by the agencies after the 2008 attack on the Naval War College in Lahore.

Probing Abbottabad

An independent inquiry commission headed by a judge that was announced to probe the Abbottabad operation appears to have run into rough weather. The News reported on June 3: “One appointee refused to take part

and the political opposition criticised it.” A former supreme court judge,Fakhruddin Ebrahim,who was named on the panel,opted out. He held he wasn’t consulted on the inclusion of his name and the government did not follow proper procedure.