July 3rd, 2021
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
Mukhtar Khan Yousafzai, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, has reiterated the call for a judicial inquiry comprising apex court judges into the alleged murder of late party senator Usman Kakar.
Speaking at a memorial reference, organized by Pakistan Students Collective at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Friday, Yousafzai rejected the judicial inquiry ordered by the Balochistan government recently. “The Balochistan government had promised to conduct an inquiry through the high court but three days judges nominated to conduct inquiry were changed,” he pointed out. “The inquiry should be conducted by apex court judges,” he demanded.
Yousafzai said there was no doubt that Usman Kakar had been murdered. He recalled that the late senator in his last speech in Senate on 10th March spoke of threats to his life. “Kakar told parliament that in case of any harm coming to him, two state agencies are to blame,” he said.
Secondly, Yousfazai said, the doctors had told the family that the head injury to Kakar came out of a strong impact that was not natural. He disclosed that Kakar’s residence was under surveillance when the injury happened. “On the day of the injury, Kakar’s house was being watched and spied on,” he said. “Two men come to visit Kakar for 15 minutes and were seen leaving the house on a rickshaw,” he added.
Yousafzai said his party believed Kakar’s death was a case of murder committed by the State. “It’s the responsibility of the State to conduct a fair and thorough investigation,” he said.
The PkMAP leader said Kakar was against the feudal system in the country. “Kakar was against any Pakistani interference in Afghanistan,” he added.
According to Yousfazi, Kakar was a man who loved all humans alike. “Be it be a Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Pashtun, he used to help everybody,” he revealed. Yousfazai said that it was Kakar’s services to humanity that the world hundreds of thousands attended his funeral. He thanked the Baloch people for attending the massive funeral. “I thank the Sindh government for sending air ambulance as well as bearing medical expenses of Usman Kakar,” he said.
Yousfazai said the late senator’s murder was part of the killings of progressive leadership in the country. “Former premier Liaqal Ali Khan, former chief minister Dr Khan Sahib, political worker Hassan Nasir, Balochistan’s leaders Nawaz Nauroze Khan and Khan Abdul Samad Achakzai, former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir Bhutto were martyred to pave the way for the Establishment comprising the military-civil bureaucracy in the country.
The PkMAP leader regretted that the Pashtun homeland is suffering in the face of state-supported terrorism for the last 15 years. “We are warning the Establishment that if they try to remove progressive leaders like Afrasiab Khattak, Farhatullah Babar, Mehmood Khan Achakzai then the youth won’t come to sit in Parliament but would instead choose to wage an armed struggle,” he added.
Lastly, he appealed to the progressive elements in Punjab not to remain silent on the atrocities committed against people in Balochistan, Sindhi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as was witnessed in the case of Bengalis in East Pakistan. “In case of silence, I fear that our country may witness another dismemberment,” he said.