LAHORE – Religious and political parties on Sunday blamed the federal and Punjab governments for suicide of Shumaila, widow of Fahim, who was killed by American citizen Raymond Davis at the Qartaba Chowk some days ago.
They said that Shumaila gave her life after getting frustrated over the alleged plan of both governments to prove Davis as a diplomat and ensuring his immunity under immense US pressure. Shumaila committed suicide at her mother’s house after taking poisonous pills while in her last statement at the ICU unit of a Faisalabad hospital, she demanded death sentence to Davis, as she and Fahim had a love marriage.
According to reports, widow of Faizan, another citizen killed by Davis, has threatened to commit suicide if justice is delayed. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Secretary General Liaqat Baloch said that Pakistani and American governments had tainted their hands with Fahim’s widow’s blood. He said that Shumaila was depressed by attitude of Pakistani and American governments and same sentiments were prevailing among the general public. The JI secretary general said that the investigation is not going in the right decision due to American pressure.
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Kamil Ali Agha said that the incident occurred due to alleged connivance of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the issue. Shumaila was forced to take the extraordinary step on callousness of the Punjab and federal governments over the issue, he added. Agha urged the government to take a firm stance over murders of innocent citizens to avoid repetition of such incidents.
Religious leader Ibtasam Elahi Zaheer said that the Punjab Police was not meeting legal requirements in the case, which led to the suicide. He feared that the Punjab government would likely release Davis, as it was morally weak to sustain American pressure. Zaheer said that the court’s decision would be acceptable and the government’s past role suggests that they would not hold a transparent investigation.
PML-N MNA Pervaiz Malik said that Shumaila’s attempt suggests that the US is pressuring the Punjab and federal governments to release Davis. He said that it was quite depressing for Fahim’s family and reiterated that the Punjab government would leave no stone unturned to investigate the whole case. Davis’ release is impossible, as the case is in the court, he added. Minhajul Quran spokesman Qazi Faiz said that we should cope with root cause of the problem and a leadership crisis is responsible for such problems but the issue is in the court.
Sunni Tehreek leader Fazal Karim told Pakistan Today that an alarming situation is emerging due to a trust deficit between the government and heirs of victims of Davis. He said that both the governments are responsible for an independent and transparent investigation into the case.
