The decision by the Chief Justice to take suo motu notice of the Zain murder case has come as a sigh of relief for law abiding citizens. The acquittal of all accused had shattered the confidence and trust of people in police investigation, the judicial system and the elected political government. This brutal act of terrorism had occurred not in a remote rural area, but in Lahore Cantonment, where security has been heightened to combat terrorism, yet an arrogant scion of an elite feudal family, who resorted to firing resulting in death of 16 year orphan Zain, has managed to manipulate system to get away. The question arises, who murdered Zain?
Such matters have become routine now. Often enough you see spoiled children of the rich elite resorting to senseless murder, such as murders of Shahzeb and Hamza in Karachi, yet they manage to evade punishment by exploiting and abusing the Islamic concept of blood money. In this way they also make a mockery of our religion, which emphasises equality of all before the law. Witnesses willing to testify are subjected to pressure by police and powerful political figures, and have to undergo intense humiliation and physical torment by repetitive adjournments in the trial process, making it difficult for regularly employed citizens to abstain from their official assignments or private businesses. Lawyers engaged by powerful criminals to defend their spoiled brats involved in heinous crimes of murder, rape, etc, intentionally delay and seek adjournments in proceedings on technicalities in connivance with the corrupt lower judiciary, till witnesses are exhausted, driven to desperation and forced to seek a way out.
In the Zain murder trial even his uncle, who lodged the FIR, has turned hostile. It is time such witnesses are protected and those who retract from FIRs are given strict punishments. The least ATC could have done was punish Mustafa Kanju and his hired bodyguards for spreading terror by resorting to indiscriminate firing, misuse of lethal weapons and posing a threat to public safety. All acquitted criminals should be arrested and forensic investigations must be launched to establish whose bullet Zain fell victim to. The involved police investigators should be sacked and criminal proceedings initiated against them if public confidence is to be restored in law enforcement.
ALI MALIK TARIQ
Lahore
