Another Pakistani journalist killed in the crossfire
Wednesday, 08 June 2011
Those who were not familiar with the news world did not know much about Syed Saleem Shahzad, a courageous voice silenced on May 31, 2011. But for many in the world of journalism he was a role model due to his reliable reporting on terrorist groups, military secret agencies, and other stake holders in the US-led War on Terror in Afghanistan and bordering areas of Pakistan. Due to his vast experience, deep knowledge and inside contacts, he reported breathtaking stories which changed the way we looked at things. Despite receiving threats, he fearlessly reported truth which sadly took his life, leaving behind a widow and three children.
Many have recently blamed the ISI for his murder due to the fact that he regularly received warnings for his reports which were not very welcoming by the Pakistani secret agency. But I think Mr. Shahzad’s knowledge and understanding of terrorist groups and his interviews with militants were more or less beneficial for the ISI than being a threat. So, due to the lack of real motive it is it is difficult to blame the ISI for his killing. The ISI has denied the allegations of Mr. Shahzad’s murder and have condemned his death. An ISI official has also claimed that the email of Mr. Shahzad to Human Rights Watch’s Ali Hasan Dayan which is made a basis of allegations against them has no veiled or unveiled threats in it.
On the other hand, if we look into the possibility of his killing by terrorist groups, we see that none of the groups have claimed the responsibility, which however doesn’t prove that they did not have a hand in his death. For obvious reasons, terrorists cannot be trusted, therefore their acceptance or rejection of responsibility doesn’t rule out the possibility of them being the perpetrators. There can be several reasons of maintaining silence, including the reason that their acceptance may cause their rivals to become more aggressive, or the fear to lose sympathy from their supporters, or to avoid propagation against themselves by media or government, and so on.
If we look at the events before Mr. Saleem’s murder, we see that he had reported that Al Qaeda was infiltrating Pakistan’s Navy to build secret cells in lower cadre, and to stop this, the Pakistan’s Navy had launched an extensive crackdown to dismantle these cells by finding and bringing these Al Qaeda affiliates to justice. This investigation had revoked a reaction by the Al Qaeda and TTP, and they attacked Pakistan Navy’s staff busses and PNS Mehran. Regardless, Pakistan Navy arrested several affiliates including a Navy commando who, according to Saleem Shahzad’s report, was from Mehsud tribe of Hakimullah Mehsud. The Navy had also arrested a former Navy commando Kamran Ahmed, and his brother Zaman from Lahore on May 30, 2011, who were blamed for the attacks, as well as for promoting and building Al Qaeda nests. Undoubtedly this was a big blow to Al Qaeda and TTP’s bigger plans of recruiting within the Pakistan Navy. It is quite possible that Al Qaeda may have become upset of Saleem Shahzad’s reporting, which they thought may have caused these arrests. Therefore as a revenge, Saleem Shahzad was murdered, just a day after these arrests were made.
Aside from guesses and estimates, the question of who murdered Mr. Shahzad remains unanswered due to the number of enemies he had. It is easy for a journalist like Mr. Shahzad to make new enemies as he was comprehensively reporting about all parties involved in WOT, so it is difficult to draw an exact conclusion on who may have murdered him. The Pakistani govt. has however formed an independent committee for investigation. For now, we can just wait to know who was behind his murder, and what their motive was.
On the other hand, if we look into the possibility of his killing by terrorist groups, we see that none of the groups have claimed the responsibility, which however doesn’t prove that they did not have a hand in his death. For obvious reasons, terrorists cannot be trusted, therefore their acceptance or rejection of responsibility doesn’t rule out the possibility of them being the perpetrators. There can be several reasons of maintaining silence, including the reason that their acceptance may cause their rivals to become more aggressive, or the fear to lose sympathy from their supporters, or to avoid propagation against themselves by media or government, and so on.
If we look at the events before Mr. Saleem’s murder, we see that he had reported that Al Qaeda was infiltrating Pakistan’s Navy to build secret cells in lower cadre, and to stop this, the Pakistan’s Navy had launched an extensive crackdown to dismantle these cells by finding and bringing these Al Qaeda affiliates to justice. This investigation had revoked a reaction by the Al Qaeda and TTP, and they attacked Pakistan Navy’s staff busses and PNS Mehran. Regardless, Pakistan Navy arrested several affiliates including a Navy commando who, according to Saleem Shahzad’s report, was from Mehsud tribe of Hakimullah Mehsud. The Navy had also arrested a former Navy commando Kamran Ahmed, and his brother Zaman from Lahore on May 30, 2011, who were blamed for the attacks, as well as for promoting and building Al Qaeda nests. Undoubtedly this was a big blow to Al Qaeda and TTP’s bigger plans of recruiting within the Pakistan Navy. It is quite possible that Al Qaeda may have become upset of Saleem Shahzad’s reporting, which they thought may have caused these arrests. Therefore as a revenge, Saleem Shahzad was murdered, just a day after these arrests were made.
Aside from guesses and estimates, the question of who murdered Mr. Shahzad remains unanswered due to the number of enemies he had. It is easy for a journalist like Mr. Shahzad to make new enemies as he was comprehensively reporting about all parties involved in WOT, so it is difficult to draw an exact conclusion on who may have murdered him. The Pakistani govt. has however formed an independent committee for investigation. For now, we can just wait to know who was behind his murder, and what their motive was.
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