The Border Security Force on Monday exposed a cruel method of smuggling adopted by cow smugglers along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal after they retrieved a live calf tied up and hidden inside a carcass floating in the river.
According to the officials, a river patrol of the border-guarding force took notice of a drifting carcass in the Mahananda river in the Malda district on Sunday, and on investigation found a live cattle inside it.
“When the carcass of the animal was cut open, a calf whose legs were tied with ropes and eyes covered with a piece of cloth was recovered,” the BSF said.
The BSF further added that the carcass was strapped with water hyacinth (a type of water grass) and banana trunk to keep it afloat. The nose of the animal was visible from a perforation made in the carcass, the BSF official revealed.
“Cow smugglers along the border have started embracing the cruellest and ruthless methods of smuggling the cattle across and along the border,” the BSF said, adding that the force has “intensified its vigil” to uncover the unconventional and new methods adopted by the cow smugglers amidst the monsoons when the rivers are in spate and the smugglers use it to their advantage to aggressively transport the cattle to the Bangladesh side.
The operation was carried out by the troops of the 44th battalion of the Border Security Forces entrusted with the responsibility of patrolling the India-Bangladesh border in the region. Talking about its strategy to guard the border, the BSF said that the South Bengal Frontier of the BSF keeps a vigil along the 900 kilometres of the border, backed by a robust strategy and reliable intelligence inputs. The total length of the India-Bangladesh border is about 4,096 KMs. A senior BSF officer also asserted that the force is in contact with the local police for effective coordination to stop the menace of smuggling along the front.
Eight smugglers with nine cattle heads caught along Assam-Bangladesh border
In a separate case, eight cattle smugglers along with nine cattle heads were nabbed by the Border Security Force from Assam South Salmara Mankachar district along Indo-Bangladesh border.
As per reports, acting on specific inputs, the BSF officials positioned at Sishumara and Boreralga border outpost carried out an operation along the riverine areas along the India-Bangladesh border on Sunday night and apprehended six cattle smugglers. A top BSF officials disclosed that the BSF had retrieved six cattle heads while the arrested persons were trying to smuggle cattle to Bangladesh.
The arrested cattle smugglers were identified as Meher Saiful Haque, Rafiqul Islam, Rafiqul Islam, Safidur Islam, Mohammad After Ali, and Nuruddin and they all hailed from South Salmara Mankachar District.
In yet another operation, the BSF officials had arrested two more cattle smugglers along with three cattle heads near Brahmaputra riverine areas of Sishumura when they were trying to illegally transport the cattle to Bangladesh.
Religious persecution and forced conversion continues unabated in the terror state of Pakistan. Despite repeated appeals by the Indian government, the Pakistani government has been doing little to save its religious minorities from the atrocities being meted out at them almost every other day. According to latest reports, 102 Hindus have been allegedly forcibly converted to Islam in the Golarchi district which falls under Badin district of Sindh province, Pakistan.
According to a report by Times Now, 102 Hindus who were forcefully converted, included men, women and children. This was not all, it has also been reported that all the idols of Hindu gods kept in a local temple were destroyed and the premises was converted into a mosque.
Forced conversions of Hindus in Pakistan
This is not the first time that such an incident has come to light. On May 17, in a viral video, a Hindu woman belonging to the Bheel tribe in Nasarpur village in Matiari in the Sindh province of Pakistan could be seen putting up a strong resistance against forced conversion to Islam. A leader of Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic Missionary Movement, in Sindh, had allegedly kidnapped a Hindu boy and had demanded conversion to Islam as a ransom for releasing him. Besides, houses belonging to Bheel Hindus had been ransacked and vandalised. Their properties have been illegally grabbed and forced to vacate their own houses.
The mother of the boy could be heard demanding the release of his son. She reiterated, “We will prefer to die but never ever convert to Islam.” It must be mentioned that the kidnappers of the Hindu boy have been seeking the conversion of Hindu families to Islam as a ransom to release the boy.
Prior to this, we reported how a Hindu couple was forcibly converted to Islam at a mosque in the city of Nawabshah in the Sindh district of Pakistan on May 15 . The conversion was undertaken by a local Imam (Islamic Cleric) named Hamid Qadri. Another Muslim leader associated with the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat was also present at the time of the forced conversion. The couple was handed cash following their conversion to Islam. These are only a few of the many incidents of atrocities which the Hindus and other minorities in Pakistan are having to go through every day.
While the repression of Uighurs Muslims in Xinjiang in China at the hands of the Communist Party is well known, Islamists in Kashmir were recently spotted cheering for the PLA during the ongoing Indo-China conflict. However, recent developments in Xinjiang demonstrate the stupidity of Muslim support for China.
A report by the Associated Press sheds light on the reasons and measures taken by the Chinese State to ensure a ‘demographic genocide.’ With several ‘draconian measures’ in place, China has ensured a significant decline in the birth rates of Uighurs (mostly comprising of Muslims).
The measures include regular pregnancy tests, sterilisation, abortion, forced insertion of IUDs (intrauterine devices), huge penalties, and incarceration in detention camps for having three or more children. Reportedly, the number of people held up in such camps range from hundreds and thousands of ethnic minorities to millions.
The coercive action has led to a drastic fall of 60% in birth rates amongst Uighurs between 2015 and 2018, in Hotan and Kashgar regions. Compared to a 4.2% dip in birth rates nationwide, Xinjiang witnessed a decline of 24% in live births in 2019. Islamists in Kashmir, who appear to be fans of China, don’t appear to have factored in the possibility that a similar fate could befall them if they ever found themselves in Chinese territory.
According to researcher Adrian Zenz, the billions of dollars invested by the Chinese government in tightening the noose around population control has transformed Xinjiang to one of the slowest growing regions in China. “This kind of drop is unprecedented….there’s a ruthlessness to it. This is part of a wider control campaign to subjugate the Uighurs”, the researcher concluded.
Drastic decline in birth rates in Hotan, Kashgar and Xinjiang regions of China (Courtesy: Associated Press)
Majority Han Chinese Vs Minority Uighurs
Reportedly, under China’s ‘one-child policy’, the majority Han Chinese were at the receiving end of government’s draconian measures. Around the same time, the ethnic minorities such as the Uighurs enjoyed quotos in government jobs, enhanced grade points in college entrance exams, and eased birth control restrictions. Ethnic minorities were reportedly allowed to have two kids or even three if they belonged to rural areas.
With the rise of the incumbent Chinese Premier Xi Jinping to power, the government sought to implement ‘equal family planning policies’ for everyone, including the ethnic minorities in a bid to stabilise birth rates in the country. As such, the Han Chinese were allowed to have two kids and three, in case they belonged to the countryside. However, as per the report, discrimination was meted out to the ethnic minorities while the ethnic majority was spared. The Han Chinese were no longer forced to abort or undergo sterilisation or face detentions for having more than 3 kids while Uighur Muslims were punished for legally having three children in Xinjiang.
The Torture of Uighur Muslims
According to a 2017 report by the head of the Institute of Sociology at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, the increasing Muslim population in Xinjiang contributed to increased political risk, poverty and extremism. One of the reasons cited behind their high birth rates was the Islamic belief that the foetus was a gift from God.
However, experts are of the view that it is a strategy of the Communist Party of China (CCP) to strip Uighurs of their religious and ethnic identity and assimilate them into the dominant Han Chinese ethnicity. While Uighur Muslims are often subjected to re-educational programs, forced labour, and digital surveillance, their children are indoctrinated in orphanages.
Reportedly, Uighur Muslims have been the subject of a massive crackdown since 2017. They were held up in prisons for praying, travelling abroad, or even using social media under the pretext of containing ‘ religious extremism’. According to researcher Zenz, two county and townships have directed authorities to leave no ‘blind spots’, contain illegal births, and decrease fertility levels.
As such officials began hunting for pregnant women and directing ethnic minorities to attend flag-raising ceremonies where they were threatened with detention and dire consequences if they failed to register their children. Associated Press reported that the Chinese government issued notices to reward people who reported illegal childbirth. Following flag-raising ceremonies, women were escorted to special rooms fitted with ultrasound scanners to detect pregnancy or take gynecology tests.
“The intention may not be to fully eliminate the Uighur population, but it will sharply diminish their vitality, making them easier to assimilate,” informed Darren Byler, an expert from the University of Colorado. As for Joanne Smith Finley who works at Newcastle University, the draconian measures undertaken by the Chinese government amount to a ‘slow, painful and creeping genocide’.
Mass sterilisations in Xinjiang of Uighurs, post 2016 (Courtesy: Associated Press)
Chinese government hellbent on ‘population control’
As per leaked data accessed by the Associated Press, 149 out of 484 people serving time in detention camps in Karakax county, Xinjiang, were kept there for having ‘too many children.’ In 2017, the Chinese government also tripled the fines levied on couples for violating the government-sanctioned rules of not having more than 3 kids. Even though fines are equally levied on the Han Chinese, only Uighurs are sent to detention camps.
In a bid to stimulate demographic change in Xinjiang, China is providing subsidies to the Han Chinese migrants to settle in the province. Besides, the government is pushing for inter-marriage between the Uighurs and the Han Chinese and rewarding them with housing and household amenities such as TV, refrigerator, and washing machine. “It links back to China’s long history of dabbling in eugenics….you don’t want people who are poorly educated, marginal minorities breeding quickly. What you want is your educated Han to increase their birth rate, ” informed James Leibold, a specialist in China at La Trobe, Melbourne.
Former detainees revealed that they were often force-fed pills, and injected with fluids. As such, several women either felt sick or stopped getting periods. When some of the detainees left China and underwent a medical inspection, to their horror, they found that they had been rendered sterile. Associated Press reported that the detainees were given pregnancy prevention injections or hormonal medication named Depo-Provera, a family planning measure. While the use of intrauterine devices decreased all over China, they rose by 60% to 3,30,000 in 2018 from 2,00,000 in 2014.
Radical Islamists in Kashmir bat for China
Following the violent clash between the Indian and Chinese forces at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh on June 15, many radical Muslims from Kashmir were seen cheering for China and looking towards China as a country that might help them in their nefarious designs. However, Omar Abdullah had sounded off a caution to the radicals saying that China is no ally of Muslims considering the plight of Uighur Muslims.
Interestingly, he disabled replies to his tweet which warned Kashmiri Muslims. Clearly, Abdullah was sure of the abuse he might face at the hands of the radical Kashmiris and had thus, disabled the responses to his tweet and temporarily deleted his account.
Pakistan, too, calls China its all-weather ally and its Prime Minister Imran Khan has gone out f his way to give China a free pass on its treatment of Uyghur Muslims. However, at the same time, he blamed ‘Hindu nationalism’ for allegedly oppressing Indian Muslims.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has sought investigation into the June 25 attack on the premises of IFB Agro facility in South 24 Parganas’ Noorpur.
Events at IFB units at Dhankuni and Noorpur call for investigation @HomeSecretaryWB@WBPolice with focus on role of District Magisterates and Police.
State and Non State Actors cannot be allowed to be law unto themselves.
— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) June 28, 2020
According to the reports, armed goons attacked their distilleries in the Noorpur, South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal. The attack took place on 25th June morning. The goons forced the facility to shut down and it has not reopened yet. The company sent a letter to the NSE, informing them about the incident.
In the letter to National Stock Exchange, Ritesh Agarwal, DGM, IFB Agro Industries Limited, said that more than 150 armed goons entered the premises and beat up the security guards. They held the employees and workers hostage and damaged computers, medical rooms, CCTV cameras and other areas of the factory. The employees were asked to leave the premises on gunpoint before 12 PM. The factory was forced to shut down.
Letter to NSE providing details about the attack. (image courtesy: @jdhankhar1 on Twitter)
The company has sought support from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Finance, Commerce and Industry Minister of the State of West Bengal. They stated that they are waiting for a better environment to restart the plant. IFB’s share prices have dipped since the attack.
Governor Dhankhar in a tweet urged the state Home Ministry to undertake a probe and ensure a conducive environment for business establishment to operate.
IFB Agro is one of the top ten distilleries and wineries in India. It mainly deals with the manufacturing and distribution of alcohol, packaging of processed marine foods, and bottling alcoholic beverages. It has bottling plants and distilleries in Hooghly, Kolkata, Purulia, South 24 Parganas, Burdwan, Murshidabad, and North Bengal.
In a bizarre statement, the Deputy Chairman of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, Suryakant Dhasmana has claimed that the deadly Chinese coronavirus is sent by Lord Krishna. Quoting the Bhagwad Gita, Uttarakhand’s Congress vice-president said that since Lord Krishna has said that he is within us and that coronavirus is set by himself as it is ‘Ka se corona, Ka se Krishna‘.
Speaking in Hindi, the Congress leader continued his bizarre rant: ” ‘क’ से कृष्ण और ‘क’ से कोरोना वायरस होता है”. According to the Devanagari script, the word “Krishna” is spelt with the Hindi letter ‘क’ and “Corona” is also spelt with the Hindi letter ‘क’. So, here the Congress leader makes a bizarre analogy saying that since Krishna (कृष्ण) also begins with Hindi letter ‘क’ and so does Corona (कोरोना), the deadly pathogen has been sent to the world by Lord Krishna.
Dhasmana was responding to a question on resuming of the Char Dham Yatra in the state. He alleged that since the infection is spreading so fast, the Yatra should not be resumed. He claimed that if Yatra is resumed, the number of pilgrims will increase and that may lead to infection. He then went on to say that Lord Krishna has given us coronavirus. He cited Bhagwad Gita for the same and said that Lord Krishna said that he created the universe, he is also responsible for the virus.
Recently, Uttarakhand Congress President Pritam Singh, Vice President Suryakant Dhasmana and 163 other party members had been booked for holding a protest here without permission, in Dehradun. As per the police, they were protesting over fuel price rise and were not following social distancing amid COVID-19 pandemic. According to City Kotwali Station House Officer SS Negi, an FIR was registered against Congress leaders under Section 147, 188, 269, and 270 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Iran has issued an arrest warrant against US President Donald Trump and 30 others. The Islamic nation has decided to ‘prosecute’ the US president and others for the drone attack that killed Gen Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general in Baghdad.
Iran’s state-run IRNA reported that the accused would face murder and terrorism charges. Though there is no possibility of Trump getting arrested, these charges have heightened tension between the two nations as Trump has already withdrawn America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
BREAKING: Iran has issued an arrest warrant for President Donald Trump over the killing of General Qasem Soleimani, according to reports by an Iran news agency.
Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said that the accusation had been made against Trump and 30 others for their role in the drone strike. He did not mention any name other than Trump but said that Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after Trump leaves the President’s post.
Iran requests a ‘red notice’ against Trump
Alqasimehr said that Iran had requested the Interpol for a ‘red notice’ to be put out for Trump and others. It denotes the highest level of arrest request issued by Interpol. A red notice enables local authorities of other countries to arrest a particular suspect. Though it does not mandate extradition or even arrest, a red notice works in limiting the travelling of suspects.
Interpol has not issued any statement regarding Iran’s request and it is highly unlikely that it will. But the warrant indicates the further deterioration of ties between the US and Iran.
Soleimani was killed on 3rd January 2020 by the US. He was the leader of the Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force. Iran had retaliated by firing 15 ballistic missiles targeting American troops in Iraq.
The National Human Rights Commission in its report on the Police crackdown at the Jamia Milia Islamia University in December 2019 has concluded that the Police had legitimate grounds for its actions and said that the protests by Jamia students were not entirely peaceful. The NHRC report dated 18th May 2020 was released only recently.
Most significantly, the NHRC concluded, “The protest dated 15.12.2019 of students was not peaceful as they claimed.” The NHRC also stated in its report that the protests witnessed the involvement of local political leaders as well. It said, “Many appeals made by the police including senior officers were ignored by the protesters. If the protest was peaceful, then there is no answer as to how large no. of private and Govt. property were destroyed and many vehicles were burnt down.”
The NHRC report also said that the protests were carried out without the permission of the University and the Police and permission was not even sought for the same. There were clashes between the protesters and police on the 13th of December as well but no report or complaint was made regarding the same.
On the 15th, a protest was called by students and local residents despite the denial of permission from the University and Police. The report says, “They also attacked the police with stones, petrol bomb etc. They blocked the traffic from all sides at Mathura Road, Ashram Chowk. The gathering was declared an ‘unlawful assembly’ by the police.” Regarding this, the report says that the police was “law bound to contain the activities of this unlawful assembly to maintain the law & Order”.
Source: NHRC report via LiveLaw
The NHRC further states in its report, “While these protesters were pushed back, they damaged property alongside of the road. The member of unlawful assembly reached near Jamia Milia University and blocked the traffic movement and entered the campus. From there, they continued pelting stones on the police party. Seeing no other alternative, police also entered the campus to contain the violent/unruly mob and to remove them from the campus.”
However, the NHRC concluded that the use of tear gas shells was irresponsible on the part of the police. But the NHRC did admit that “It is beyond doubt that students of Jamia Milia Islamia University, local residents, doubtful character, political leaders were actively involved in various violent protests in Jamia area.” The NHRC also noted that there was apparent failure on the part of the Police in their lack of awareness beforehand regarding the developments that occurred.
In a damning indictment of the University administration, the report said that “they did not try to share any development of discontentment of students with local police and also did not seek any assistance from them”. It also states that the the students are “prone to mingling with local population” which needs a “permanent solution”.
The NHRC report recommended that adequate compensation be provided to the students who were injured during the police crackdown on the university. It also recommends action against law enforcement personnel caught on CCTV damaging cameras, “unnecessarily coming inside the reading rooms of libraries of Jamia Millia Islamia and also using tear gas shells inside the close compound of the library”.
The report emphasised that “There is a need to uncover real actors and motive behind overall protest at Jamia Milia Islamia which seems to be smart and purportedly organised under disguise of students.”
The Jamia Riots in December 2019
The cycle of violence in Delhi erupted in December 2019 following the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act and culminated with the Delhi riots in February 2020. The violence erupted in Delhi after Jamia ‘shero’ Ladeeda Farzana gave a call for Jihad on social media. Soon, she and Aysha Renna became the face of the Jamia protests.
A host of Jamia students have also been charged in the Delhi Riots case over the communal violence that erupted at the national capital in February. The President of Jamia Alumni Association Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider and Jamia Millia Islamia University students Asif Iqbal Tanha, Gulfisha Khatoon have been charged in the matter.
The Mumbai Police under the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra has issued a notice to Karishma Bhosale and her mother for requesting the mosque authorities to lower the volume of loudspeaker that blared azaan.
The notice was addressed to Karishma’s mother, Varsha Ganesh Bhosale, which stated that it was inappropriate on the part of Karishma to have visited the Noori Ilahi Sunni Welfare Association’s mosque in Mankhurd and asked its authorities to reduce the volume of azaan that blared through its loudspeaker.
“On June 24, 2020, you visited the Noori Ilahi Sunni Welfare Association’s mosque in Mankhurd with the plea of reducing the volume of azaan that blares through the loudspeakers installed in the neighbourhood. It was inappropriate on your part to visit the mosque for requesting them to lower the volume of azaan. Instead of entering into the mosque, the complainant should have followed the due law and approached the nearby police station to raise her grievances with them,” the notice read.
The notice read that such acts pose a threat to “law and order situation” in the region and directed Karishma and her mother to abide by the rules, failing which they will be booked under Section 188(Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) for violating the notice served under Section 149 and appropriate action will be initiated against them.
Karishma Bhosale heckled by resident Muslims for requesting to lower the volume of azaan
Karishma Bhosale of Mumbai was ominously intimidated by Muslim residents for raising her voice against the blaring of azaan in high volume from a neighbourhood mosque in her area.
A resident of in Mankhurd, Karishma had visited a nearby mosque to convince the authorities to lower the volume of the azaan that blared through a loudspeaker installed right in front of her window. However, when she reached the mosque with her plea, a raft of belligerent Muslims accosted her and intimidated her for requesting to reduce the volume of azaan.
In a series of tweets, Ms Karishma expressed the ordeal she had to go through at the mosque on Twitter. She alleged that within minutes of visiting the mosque for asking them to lower the volume of the loudspeaker, scores of people gathered in the mosque, including men and women and entered into an altercation with her.
Furthermore, the girl had also shared a Whatsapp message in which Mankhurd MLA Abu Azmi has reportedly asked the victim to leave her residence if she has a problem with the sound of azaan. Azmi reputedly accused the victim of inciting riots by raising her voice against azaan.
While the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been infamous for exporting terrorism to India, a report by The Economic Times states that illegal immigrants and terrorists from Pakistan are now entering Europe through Bosnia & Herzegovina. The new development has stoke fears of a rise in terror attacks in Europe.
As per the report, the government of Bosnia has recently summoned and reprimanded the Pakistani Ambassador to Sarajevo after two Pakistan-origin terrorists entered the country illegally. Fahrudin Radonci, Bosnian Security Minister, informed that they have been able to expose the terrorists, using DNA fingerprinting techniques. However, Economic Times reported that the Pakistani Ambassador has refused to co-operate with the Bosnian government in checking the fingerprints of the illegal migrants in the country.
How Bosnia serves a route for human trafficking?
It was reported earlier how Pakistanis were exploiting visa frauds to make their way illegally into the European Union (EU). As per the report, around 3000 Pakistani nationals were fraudulently issued visas by the Bosnian embassy in Islamabad and enabling them to cover much of the distance of the 4000-mile-long-human-trafficking-route.
By doing so, Pakistanis can reach Bosnia directly from Pakistan and cross the border to reach Croatia and make inroads the smuggling route. In the absence of a visa to Bosnia, they will have to cross through Iran, Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Macedonia. Besides being an expensive and cumbersome process, illegal immigrants have to risk arrest, violence at the hands of criminals, and even death in some cases.
Drastic increase in Pakistanis travelling to Bosnia
While only 100 people travelled to Bosnia from Pakistan in January 2019, the number kept on increasing. By July 2019, around 3000 people arrived in Bosnia from Pakistan. While there was a temporary decline, the number of immigrants spiked again in October last year. An investigation has been launched into the dealings at the Bosnian embassy in Islamabad by the State Prosecutor. As for the Security Minister Radoncic, he has dubbed allegations of infiltration and human trafficking as a ‘security threat.’
Sakib Foric, the Bosnian ambassador to Pakistan had denied all allegations. He had asserted that the embassy in Islamabad has not issued a single forged visa and demanded an apology from the Bosnian minister and official who had levelled the allegations against him.
The Pakistan Supreme Court Monday rejected the Sindh government’s plea to suspend the Sindh High Court’s decision of the acquittal of terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh involved in the gruesome beheading of the South Asia Chief of the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Pearl in 2002. Pearl was researching about Islamic extremism when he was abducted from Karachi and killed.
Ahmed Omar Sheikh probably will go free. A fine of Rs 2,000,000 is all he’s got to pay. In the April SHC ruling, he was only charged for kidnapping and sentenced to 7 years in jail, time which he has served already! https://t.co/oJkTZmEErs
— Naila Inayat नायला इनायत (@nailainayat) June 29, 2020
The three-member bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam observed that the verdict to acquit the accused could only be suspended if there were any shortcomings in the order. The court heard their appeals after 18 years and acquitted Adil Sheikh, Salman Saqib and Fahad Nasim in April this year. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh’s death sentence was commuted to seven years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000,000 was imposed on him. Since he has already served his jail time, he may just walk away free.
Though the counsel for Sindh government argued that the accused was an international terrorist, whose release could result in serious consequences, the three-member bench rejected the Sindh government’s request and adjourned the hearing of the case until September.
The bench not only refused to suspend the acquittal order but also castigated the counsel for Sindh government for calling the accused terrorists. During the hearing, Justice Yahya Khan remarked that the Sindh HC has acquitted the accused so how can lawyer of Sindh government call them terrorists. “How can you still call them terrorists?”, Justice Yahya Khan Afridi questioned the Sindh government lawyer as the accused have now been acquitted by the court.
Parents of Daniel Pearl moved the Pakistani Supreme Court against Sindh High Court decision
Last month, the parents of deceased Daniel Pearl, the South Asia Chief of the Wall Street Journal, had moved the Pakistani Supreme Court against the decision of Sindh High Court to free 4 convicts involved in the gruesome beheading of their son in 2002.
On behalf of the journalist’s parents, a lawyer named Faisal Siddiqi filed the petition. “The decision by the Sindh High Court to free the men in the murder of Daniel Pearl is a complete miscarriage of justice. It is a defining case for the Pakistani state and its judicial system, involving freedom of the press, the sanctity of every life, freedom from terror and the manifestation of a welcoming and safe Pakistan to the world”, he was quoted as saying.
Sindh govt challenged the acquittal at Supreme Court, re-arrested the accused persons
Before the appeal by Pearl’s family, Pakistani prosecutors had already filed an appeal against the acquittal of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and others accused in the case. The provincial govt of Sindh had filed the appeal at the Supreme Court of Pakistan after the High Court order.
Sindh Prosecutor General Dr Fiaz Shah had filed the appeal at the top court on the grounds that the ‘last seen evidence’, ‘impersonation and ‘identification parade’ was proved against the accused persons and they were maintained concurrently by the trial court. The appeal had also pointed out that the video showing the murder of the WSJ reporter had been verified by a public official, an expert from PTV, and it was never challenged.
Sheikh and three others were also re-arrested by Sindh government just a day after they were freed by the court. The govt had ordered them keep in detention for three months for public safety. Police authorities had sought permission from the state govt claiming that the release of the four men could “create a law and order situation” and sought immediate action from the provincial government for safety measures, which was granted by the govt.
Death Sentence of the ‘murderer’ overturned
Earlier, a court in Pakistan had overturned the death sentence and murder conviction of a British-born terrorist, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, for the murder of Daniel Pearl in 2002. A lawyer for the terrorist, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, said that his sentence was reduced to seven years on the charge of kidnapping. Three other men who were handed over life sentences in the case have been acquitted by the Sindh High Court and released.
The High Court overturned the verdict of an anti-terrorism court. Sheikh was one of the terrorists freed by India along with Masood Azhar in 1999 to secure the release of passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.
A group of US journalists had said in 2011 that they believed Sheikh was not guilty. The Pear Project claims that the murder was carried out by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, currently lodged in the Guantanamo Bay, accused of involvement in the 9/11 terror attacks in the US.
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is a British-born terrorist of Pakistani origin. He was arrested by Indian security agencies in connection to kidnapping of western tourists in India in 1994. However, he was released with Maulana Masood Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group founder and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar of JKLF who is currently believed to be living in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
