During the last few weeks, it was quite amazing to read classic excuses from some high profile responsible persons to hide their or their institutes’ failures. The special Investigation Team (SIT) has told the Indian Supreme Court that parliamentarian Ahsan Jaafri could have fired on the rioters during the siege of Gulberg society in 2002 Gujarat riots. Jaafri’s action might have instigated the rioters to put the whole colony on fire wherein 69 persons including Jaafri were burned to death.
Pakistan army’ paramilitary force – Frontier Corp (FC) head Major Gen Ubaid Khan told the Supreme Court that his force has nothing to do with ‘missing persons’ and extremists were involved in kidnapping of people while using FC uniforms and vehicles. During the hearing a video clip obtained from a CCTV camera was also played showing FC soldiers stopping three persons at a hotel entrance and then taking them away in FC vehicle. Ubaid Khan rejected the footage saying it didn’t prove that his men were involved in the kidnapping of these people.
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has accused the prosecution of paying and threatening the witnesses to accuse him in the ongoing war crimes trial in Geneva. Taylor expressed ‘deepest sympathy’ for victims in Sierra Leone but insisted of his innocence. He told the court that he is a father of many children, have grand children and great-grand, therefore, court shall consider his age when deciding on the charges.
These high profile excuses may provide some historians a logical precedent to ‘correct’ the record of many infamous massacres such as My Lai, Sabra and Shatila, Srebrenica, Cave of the Patriarchs, 9/11, Bhagalpur – the list goes on.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia