Parliament and intelligence agencies should implement Saleem Shahzad Commission’s recommendations in true spirit to avoid such incidents in future, the Media Commission Pakistan and the South Asian Free Media Association said during a discussion on Friday. SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam headed the discussion while human rights activist IA Rehman, Areej Zakriya, Professor Wasim, Anjum Rasheed, Khalid Ahmad and Allama Siddiq Azhar were among the participants. The MCP and SAFMA said the commission of inquiry had not only failed to find the culprits, it also could not clear the well-orchestrated confusion and cover-ups regarding the murder despite receiving a lot of circumstantial evidence that could help at least set a clear direction for criminal investigation. The failure of the commission to set a direction for the investigators would make it yet another blind murder case with no results whatsoever, the SAFMA said, adding that it would further encourage the perpetrators of such heinous crimes to continue with dirty tricks and keep journalists from fearlessly performing their job about the conflict or in the conflict region. “The commission has also admitted in its report that ‘in our present circumstances, investigating criminal allegations against security agencies is a rather difficult task’,” it said. The participants were also of the view that most productive and useful part of the commission’s report was about its evaluation and recommendation regarding the systemic causes of tension between the intelligence agencies and the media.
