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The court had directed the FC the other day to produce Abdul Malik, a missing person, or the area commandant, but no action was taken over the directives.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry expressed the resentment while hearing the petition filed by the Balochistan Bar Association on the law and order situation in the province at its Quetta Registry. Other members of the bench were Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain.
The counsel for FC, Raja Irshad, sought more time from the court, saying he had not received copy of inquiry report about Abdul Malik, a resident of Nushki. At this, Chief Justice Iftikhar told him that the session court had conducted an inquiry on the issue and the FC had been blamed for picking up Abdul Malik.
“Produce Abdul Malik or the FC commandment before the court; otherwise, law will take its own course,” he remarked.
The chief justice said it seemed that he (Irshad) wanted the FC personnel to be arrested and produced before the magistrate. “We are avoiding to do so, but you are compelling us for the action. We are trying not to embarrass anybody,” the CJP told the FC counsel.
Justice Khilji said they had other options if these people were not ready to cooperate.
However, the FC counsel kept insisting seeking a week time to produce missing Abdul Malik, on which Justice Jawwad remarked that they could not do so after the lapse of one month and seven days.
The chief justice said they wanted to establish the writ of law and police, as he ordered producing Abdul Malik today (Friday).
However, the FC counsel said if the representatives of Balochistan sitting the in assemblies and Senate did not want FC, then they should withdraw the latter from the province. Justice Jawwad reminded him to go through the Constitution and there was no confusion in deployment of FC in the province.
The provincial home secretary informed the bench that the FC was deployed in nine areas of Balochistan on the requisition of the provincial government, while the federal government had deployed the force in some areas like Dera Bugti for the protection of gas installations.
“The provincial government is empowered to deploy or withdraw FC from any area,” the secretary added. During the hearing another case of missing person, Zakir Majeed Baloch, the CJP was informed about lack of progress in the case, on which he told the Balochistan chief secretary to give a written statement that the provincial government was powerless and could not do anything.
Raja Irshad again claimed that the FC had not detained any missing person, but the CJP remarked that they had heard these words ten times and they wanted results. “You tell us where the relatives of missing persons should go,” the CJP questioned the chief secretary.
During the hearing, Farzana Baloch, the sister of Zakir Majid, appealed to the judges that her brother be produced before the court if he had committed something wrong. “He is the only breadwinner of our family and I want my brother alive. There is no progress in my brother’s case and what should I tell my aged mother about her son when I go home,” she asked.
The chief justice expressed his anger after not getting proper answer about whereabouts of Zakir Majid and Dr Din Muhammad. “Agencies are claiming these people are in the farrari camps (hideouts of Baloch insurgents), while the Balochistan government is blaming the FC,” he added.
The bench also expressed concerns over the killing of seven coalminers. “The killing of seven coalminers will increase hatred among the people. You don’t know what is happing,” the CJP remarked.
Justice Khilji said despite the presence of a large number of law enforcement agencies how this incident occurred. “I feel everybody is busy with his own business and nobody is worried for Balochistan,” he remarked, adding that he had wept in 1971 for the country and he could not weep anymore.
The CJP directed for constitution of a high- level committee to investigate the Sorange incident and arrest the culprits besides submitting a report.
Raja Irshad said the FC was criticised whenever it took action against the miscreants, “I have other side of picture too but I cannot state it here.”
The bench was also irritated over not producing the 14 missing persons of Tutak area of Khuzdar, who were allegedly picked by FC in the beginning of 2011 and non-appearance of the FC commandment concerned, about whom the court had issued directives to appear in appear.
“If the chief secretary can appear before the court, then why not the FC commandment,” the CJP asked.
The bench directed the FC counsel to produce 14 missing persons of Tutak before the court or ensure appearance of concerned FC commandment. “Do not compel us to take extreme steps,” the chief justice warned.
The bench also directed Lt-Colonel Tariq and Major Tahir to appear before the court on Friday in connection with the Tutak incident.
Earlier, hearing the case of kidnapping for ransom incidents, Chief Justice Iftikhar said police had completely failed in maintaining law and order in the province.
Hearing the statement of Mehmoodul Hassan’s wife, who was kidnapped from Dalbandin, the chief justice observed, “The number of crimes is under control in the areas that are under Levies.”
His wife told the court that the men, who picked up her husband from Dalbandin, were roaming free while police were afraid of entering the locality of Faisal Town, where the culprits were hiding.
The CJP ordered the IG police to produce Mehmoodul Hassan before the court.
During proceedings, the DIG Investigation told Chief Justice Iftikhar that efforts were underway to recover the director of Jamia Salfia, who was abducted some days back from Quetta.
Meanwhile, the bodies of seven kidnapped coalminers were recovered from the Degari area, some 25 kilometres from Quetta, on Thursday morning.
The miners were kidnapped on July 7 from the Sorange area by unidentified armed men. Later on, banned outfit Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) spokesman Jihand Baloch claimed the responsibility for the abductions.
Chief Inspector Mine Iftikhar Ahmed confirmed the killing of miners and said some passers-by spotted the bodies and informed the Balochistan Levies. The Levies force and local administration rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area when they spotted the bodies. “The bullet-riddled bodies were lying near a road in the hills of nearby Degari coalmine fields. The victims were shot dead overnight,” a Levies official told The Nation, adding that the bodies were moved to the Civil hospital Quetta for autopsy.
The coal mine workers were working in a private mining company, United Minerals. They were identified as Hameedullah, Abdul Hameed, Muhammad Ishaq, Faqir Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Akbar and Khan Muhammad. They belonged to the Swat and Dir areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, official sources confirmed.
Sources said a chit was found from the pocket of a body, which stated that whosoever came to Balochistan from other parts of the country to extract coal and exploit other natural resources against the will of Baloch people would face the same consequences.
Meanwhile, the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and National Labour Federation (NLF) Balochistan staged a protest demonstration outside the Balochistan High Court where the hearing of Supreme Court was underway at Quetta Registry on the law and order situation in the province.
The protesters chanted slogan against the government and its functionaries, condemning the killing of mine workers. Some protesters tried to enter the court premises, but they were not allowed by the police and one of the protesters thrown a stone injuring the SP Operation City Tariq.
Addressing the protesters, PkMAP leader Nasrullah Zery and Abdul Rahim Mir Dad Khel from NLF condemned the killings and said it was not the first incident that the coal miners were kidnapped and killed in the province, but no action had been taken against the responsible.
“The local administration has failed to protect the life of the coal mine workers,” they said, adding that the coalminers were not earning the money for their children rather they were labouring for Balochistan and its economy.
They demanded strict action against the killing of the coalmines workers and protection to other miners who were working in different coalfields of Balochistan.
No progress but more dead bodies reported
