Barrister Fahad Malik was murdered in August, 2016 by ‘powerful gangsters’ in capital Islamabad
PKONWEB Report – UK Labor Party’s Member of European Parliament (MEP) Wajid Khan has written to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, stating that punishment for the killers of British Pakistani barrister Fahad Malik will restore the confidence of overseas Pakistanis in their motherland’s justice system.
The MEP from North West England wrote that barrister Fahad Malik was a British National who had an affluent life in Britain but left it all behind to settle in Pakistan and work for its development. “Its heart breaking that he was killed at such a young age and he has left behind his devastated family who are seeking the path of justice. It’s important that his killers are brought to justice, to restore the confidence of those foreign nationals who travel to and spend time in Pakistan. It is important to send a strong message that such heinous acts will not be tolerated, and justice will prevail.”
Barrister Malik, who was a nephew of former Senate Chairman and current Federal Minister for Privatization Mohammad Mian Soomro, was murdered on August 15, 2016 in a clash with powerful gangsters in Sector F-10, Islamabad, reported The News. His wife Sakina Bukhari and two children were in London when the lawyer was killed by gangsters after mediating between two warring factions.
In a series of messages posted on a social media site, Zulfi Bukhari (present
Minister of State for Overseas Pakistanis) wrote: “Our entire family has been ripped apart, my brother-in-law murdered outside the police station #JusticeForFahad.”
He posted pictures of Fahad Malik with his son and daughter and wrote: “Fahad leaves behind 2 beautiful kids & his wife. His only crime? Mediating a conflict between two parties.”
Bukhari posted pictures of the alleged gangsters who opened fire on Fahad Malik outside the police station: “We can’t bring Fahad back, or make sense of this killing. My sister is shattered, their children heartbroken. Plz pray for them.”
It will be almost three years in a couple of months since Malik’s murder and remains unsolved. The country’s top court has an Expatriate Pakistanis Complaint Wing; The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development also has an online complaint center; There’s also the Grievance Commissioner Cell for Overseas Pakistanis in Federal Ombudsman Secretariat; and a complaint cell established by the FIA.
The media after the gruesome murder of Malik had put spotlight on the case as the crime took place a few hundred meters from the PM office; the families of Fahad Malik are influential, and the role of gangsters and how brazenly they act came to light for the first time.
Nearly 10 million Pakistanis reside abroad and have strong links back home including families, extended families, lands, investment and residences. On the average nearly $20 billion these Pakistanis remit to Pakistan every year- critical for the country’s balance of payment and forex reserve.
Past and the incumbent government call these Pakistanis country’s ‘assets’.
The MEP’s most recent followup letter to the Chief Justice has come after December last year’s letter written by 20 cross-party British parliamentarians wrote to the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Saqib Nisar, requesting for justice in Fahad Malik’s murder case. The letter was signed by twenty MPs from Labor, Conservative and Liberal Democrats to the Human Rights Cell of Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad.
Earlier this month, the Islamabad High Court restrained the Adiala Jail superintendent from releasing the main murder accused Raja Arshad after an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad granted post-arrest bail to Raja Arshad to the accused. A few days later, the IHC Chief Justice removed ATC-1 judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi from his position and transferred him in the establishment division of the Islamabad High Court as OSD (On Special Duty).
Malik’s family has approached the IHC pleading that the bail was granted to the main murder accused without hearing their arguments. The family pleaded that the bail was ordered in a hasty manner and in strange circumstances.
