Hamid Mir refuses to give statement to JIT

 

KARACHI: Senior journalist and Geo Television anchorperson Hamid Mir, who was critically injured in an armed attack on April 19 in Karachi, has refused to record his statement to a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) owing to the presence of an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) representative in the team.
The JIT, comprising representatives of seven major law-enforcement and intelligence agencies of the country, was formed by the Sindh Home Department to investigate the armed attack on senior Geo News anchorperson Hamid Mir.

Led by a senior SSP Investigation of the Karachi Police, the JIT includes representatives of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau, Field Security Wing of the Sindh Rangers, Crime Investigation Department of the police, and a representative of the armed forces.

Sources told The News on Wednesday that the JIT investigators on Wednesday visited the Aga Khan Hospital where Mir was undergoing treatment after he sustained multiple bullet wounds in the deadly attack and asked him to record his statement before the Joint Investigation Team.

The wounded journalist, however, refused to record his statement to the JIT on the plea that it included a representative from the ISI, and he was not comfortable with the presence of an ISI representative in the investigation team.

Sources said the JIT tried to persuade Hamid Mir to record his statement as the team was constituted by the provincial Home Department and his refusal to record the statement before the team amounts to challenging the constitution of the JIT. But they added that Hamid Mir insisted that unless the ISI representative was withdrawn from the team, he would not record his statement or cooperate with the JIT in its investigation.

Sources said Hamid Mir expressed no reservations on the presence of Military Intelligence representative in the JIT and said owing to his suspicion that some persons in the ISI might be behind the attack on him, he could not record his statement to the JIT due to the presence of the ISI representative in the team.

On the other hand, DIG East Karachi Munir Ahmed Shaikh told The News that the Karachi Police were also investigating the attack on Hamid Mir and had recorded the statement of Hamid Mir when he became able to talk to the police after his surgery.

He said the Karachi Police would continue its investigation irrespective of Hamid Mir’s non-cooperation with the JIT as it was the prime responsibility of the police to track down the culprits, who attacked him and produce them before the courts.

The Karachi official said Hamid Mir had not expressed any reservation about the Karachi Police and voluntarily recorded his statement to it, which had now become a part of the investigation and hoped that the police would soon be able to track the criminals behind the attack.He, however, refused to share any progress made by the police investigators in the case and said any breakthrough in the investigation would be shared with the people and the media after the police unearthed the whole conspiracy and reached the real culprits.

Hamid Mir to issue official statement on attack today: wife

KARACHI: Senior journalist and Geo News’ anchor Hamid Mir will issue an official statement today (Thursday) pertaining to an attack that left him severely injured with six bullet wounds on Saturday evening, his wife told Geo News on Thursday.

Mr. Mir's wife thanked the nation for praying for her husband’s health and life, and said that it is due to the Almighty’s blessings and peoples’ wishes that Hamid Mir got a new life. She appealed to continue praying for Hamid Mir’s health who is recovering from his injuries at a private hospital in Karachi.

The doctors have extracted three bullets from Mir’s body, however, three bullets are still lodged in his legs and thighs that require major surgeries.

On Wednesday, Karachi police registered an FIR against unidentified assailants into an armed attack on Hamid Mir

The case was registered on behalf of sub-inspector Shahadat Khan under section 15 of Anti-Terrorism Act and 324/34 and 427 of PPO at the Airport Police Station.

It may be mentioned that Hamid Mir was attacked in Karachi on Saturday evening while his car was leaving the airport.

The attack took place when a single gunman wearing shalwar kameez stopped his car right outside the airport and opened fire. The driver of the car sped away but the gunman and his accomplices on two motorcycles and a car followed Hamid Mir and continued firing. The attackers followed Hamid Mir’s car till Karsaz before fleeing. While being chased Hamid Mir spoke to his colleagues over the phone and informed them of the attack.

Foreign Policy statement

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz while winding up the debate on a motion in the National Assembly stated that the government's foreign policy is based on non-interference, strengthening trade relations, promoting trade not aid and reflecting the country's internal situation. Few can fault the four tenets laid down by Sartaj Aziz however many may challenge the government's implementation record.

Pakistan is at a critical juncture in its history with serious law and order problems that have regional and international implications with the government's hands in taking bold decisions tied, to a considerable extent, to the country's rising dependence on international loans to forestall the real possibility of default. In this context it is relevant to note that the budget for the current fiscal year envisages 467.4 billion rupees of external loans in contrast to 274 billion rupees budgeted last year with only 214 billion rupees realised. Irrespective of whether or not this amount would be realised the fact remains that our dependence on external loans was envisaged as nearly doubling in comparison to last year. Our major creditor nations engaged in Afghanistan under the Nato umbrella have been compelling us to take actions since 9/11 - some of which are difficult to justify from our security perspective. Such actions, nonetheless, have relevance when seen in our economic context. Thus Sartaj was astute and credible when he claimed that the government is promoting trade not aid on the one hand and, what is regarded by critics as a contradiction, maintaining that the policy also reflects the country's internal situation on the other hand.

The major policy decisions taken by the incumbent government with respect to promoting trade have been evident in two instances namely the grant of GSP plus status by the European Union and granting the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India. The former, it maybe recalled, was an offer made by the EU as a form of assistance to the PPP-led coalition government in dealing with the massive destruction during the 2010 floods. The delay was initially due to some countries challenging the offer - countries that would have been negatively impacted in their trade with the EU; and later the failure of our government to implement some of the conventions that were a prerequisite for the package. There is no doubt that the incumbent Governor Punjab facilitated the implementation of the GSP Plus status by mobilising his European contacts in our favour; however, there are concerns that the government would have to show improved implementation of these conventions to ensure that the package duration is as long as agreed, or in effect, the government must begin to deal with the insurgency in Balochistan and improve implementation of human rights laws.

The Prime Minister is openly supportive of granting MFN status to India, as was President Zardari during his tenure; however, there are certain sectors that have expressed extreme reservations against it on the ground that the Indian government not only subsidises their sector that would render them uncompetitive even in our local markets but India continues to impose non-tariff barriers some of which are Pakistan-specific. Reportedly the country's establishment has also expressed some concerns and in this context it is relevant to note that the US has been supporting the grant of MFN status to India as well as insisting that Pakistan opens a land route for trade between India and Afghanistan.

Sartaj also stated that the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline is still on a priority list but added that the project will be pursued after relaxation of US sanctions. It is unfortunate that the PPP lawmakers are trying to make political capital out of the IP agreement signed during the last week their party was in power as a reflection of their capacity to withstand US pressure. Why did not the PPP government sign that agreement before to ensure its implementation is a query for which the party would have no plausible answer.

The Advisor further revealed that the foreign policy is under preparation and all stakeholders will be taken into confidence. This inclusive approach was also made apparent in the recently tabled National Security Policy and one would hope that given the fact that Pakistan is grappling on so many fronts the Opposition would play a constructive role in strengthening its hands. Be that as it may, the security policy and foreign policy are the domain of the government in power and the PML-N has sufficient numbers to ensure their passage with ease.