Is this the end of Dawn-gate?
Trending in the news today is the announced line up for the committee probing the now infamous Dawn leaks. The prevalent sentiment right now is “better late than never”. The controversial “leaked” story, originally dismissed as a falsification, is now being probed as a matter of national security. And though it’s been over a month since the matter arose, the fact that the government is finally looking in to it is a development that should be welcomed.
The line up boasts the inclusion of Lahore High Court’s Justice (retd) Aamir Raza Khan (the chairman of the committee) as well as Secretary Establishment Tahir Shahbaz, Punjab’s Ombudsman Najam Saeed and Director FIA Usman Anwar. Also included, though yet unnamed, are representatives of the security agencies ISI, MI and IB. Also welcome is that announcement of the committee’s cutoff date – the probe has to be completed in 30 days. There are two points of concern that arose after this admittedly welcome announcement. The first is the hope for even handedness from the investigation committee. It is hoped that those involved will not be susceptible to previously held biases and will look at the matter without prejudice. The second is a red flag raised after the lineup was announced – the people announced so far are all from PML-N’s home ground.
It can be argued that those involved were chosen based on relevance. However, lack of inclusion of representatives in similar capacity from other provinces implies a preeminent control of the situation by the Punjab based PML-N. If the government wishes to walk away from this with some credibility, these are concerns that it would do well to address in time. The federal government badly needs to assert its credentials as a mainstream party with roots in all the provinces. The signal that it is sending through the committee is that it relies on none outside Punjab.