- Anil Narendra
The brutal murder of Pakistani journalist Syed Salim Shahzad has angered Pakistanis. His murder is being condemned all over Pakistan. Pak media is openly saying that Pakistan has become a dangerous place for Pak journalists to work in. The Pakistaniat.com blogger Adil Nazam has termed the death of Shahzad as a warning to the country, while the writer of ‘a case of exploding mangoes’, Mohammed Hanif asks on twitter: Is there any journalist here who belives that intelligence agencies are not behind this murder? Nazam writes that Pakistanis have become accustomed to living under insecurity and constant fear. Today, they are feeling more unsecure and afraid. In its editorial, the Daily Times has said that this murder of a journalist amounts to a warning to the journalist fraternity to desist from honest reporting otherwise same fate awaits them. The Dawn newspaper says that in fact, it is almost impossible for Pakistan to get rid of this image of it being a dangerous place for world journalists to work in.
Before going missing, Shahzad, in an article had mentioned of connivance between some Pak Naval officers and terror organization, al-Qaeda. He was working as Bureau Chief of the online newspaper Asian Times. He also worked as a reporter for the Times of India for a brief period. Also working for an Italian News Agency, Shahzad had often been writing about Pak and Afghan terrorists and their relations with Pak institutions. Two days before he went missing, Shahzad had mentioned about the connivance between some officers of Pak Naval establishment and terrorist organizations. For quite some time, he was on the hit-list of ISI and had been threatened of death by the ISI. He wrote an article titled ‘al-Qaeda head warned of Pakistan strike’ on 27 May in Asia Times on-line, in which he mentioned that the 22 May al-Qaeda attack on PNS Mehran Naval Base took place only after breaking of talks between al-Qaeda and Naval officers. Al-Qaeda wanted Naval officers to release its supporters arrested by them on the charges of terror links. According to Pak media reports, country’s intelligence agency, ISI has kidnapped him. A number of international journalist and human right organizations also appealed to the Pakistan government to find Shahzad. No terror outfit has claimed responsibility of killing Shahzad. Shahzad’s death has clearly shown that journalists in Pakistan are risking their lives while working.
A fearless Pak journalist, 40- year Syed Salim Shahzad was missing for a week. His body was recovered on Tuesday morning from Sarai Aalamgir area of Jhelum town about 200 kms from Lahore. His abandoned car was also found nearby. It was clear from the condition of the body that the journalist had been subjected to brutal torture. Geo TV had shown a black and white photograph of Shahzad in one of its programme, the facial expression on which clearly showed signs of torture, which he was subjected to.
On Sunday evening, Shahzad left his home in Islamabad for ‘Duniya’ news channel, where he was to participate in TV programme on terror attack on Mehran Naval Base.
Shahzad wrote a book ‘Inside al-Qaeda and Taliban : beyond bin Laden and 9/11’ which was published by the Dawn newspaper on May 20. This book explains the background and modus operandi of 2008 Mumbai attack in detail. An expert in operations against India, Iliayas Kashmiri astonished the al-Qaeda leadership with his proposal, which suggested that the only solution to end the present deadlock was to expand the war. He advised for a massive campaign which may lead to war between India and Pakistan and which ultimately result in abandonment of all operations against al-Qaeda. Excited by the proposal, al-Qaeda approved the terror attack on India. Shahzad, further writes that Kashmiri handed over the complete plan of the proposed attack to former Major of Pakistan Army, Haroon Aashif, who with the help of Iliyas Kashmiri’s men hijacked the plan and transformed it into a devastating Mumbai attack.
In fact, Shahzad had collected highly explosive information about ISI and al-Qaeda and this investigative journalism proved the death nail in his coffin. Shahzad had expressed his apprehension about a secret mission of the ISI, under which dirty bombs were being developed, and this was in addition to its officially assigned nuclear weapon programme. He feared that some ISI officers could provide these weapons to the terrorist organizations. Syed Salim Shahzad had sufficient information about terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which was not palatable to ISI. Perhaps, he had the knowledge of nuclear weapons in the possession of al-Qaeda and the conspiracy of their being used against Israel and India. Before he could make more revelations, he was silenced. He was silenced, but his pen survives.
Before going missing, Shahzad, in an article had mentioned of connivance between some Pak Naval officers and terror organization, al-Qaeda. He was working as Bureau Chief of the online newspaper Asian Times. He also worked as a reporter for the Times of India for a brief period. Also working for an Italian News Agency, Shahzad had often been writing about Pak and Afghan terrorists and their relations with Pak institutions. Two days before he went missing, Shahzad had mentioned about the connivance between some officers of Pak Naval establishment and terrorist organizations. For quite some time, he was on the hit-list of ISI and had been threatened of death by the ISI. He wrote an article titled ‘al-Qaeda head warned of Pakistan strike’ on 27 May in Asia Times on-line, in which he mentioned that the 22 May al-Qaeda attack on PNS Mehran Naval Base took place only after breaking of talks between al-Qaeda and Naval officers. Al-Qaeda wanted Naval officers to release its supporters arrested by them on the charges of terror links. According to Pak media reports, country’s intelligence agency, ISI has kidnapped him. A number of international journalist and human right organizations also appealed to the Pakistan government to find Shahzad. No terror outfit has claimed responsibility of killing Shahzad. Shahzad’s death has clearly shown that journalists in Pakistan are risking their lives while working.
A fearless Pak journalist, 40- year Syed Salim Shahzad was missing for a week. His body was recovered on Tuesday morning from Sarai Aalamgir area of Jhelum town about 200 kms from Lahore. His abandoned car was also found nearby. It was clear from the condition of the body that the journalist had been subjected to brutal torture. Geo TV had shown a black and white photograph of Shahzad in one of its programme, the facial expression on which clearly showed signs of torture, which he was subjected to.
On Sunday evening, Shahzad left his home in Islamabad for ‘Duniya’ news channel, where he was to participate in TV programme on terror attack on Mehran Naval Base.
Shahzad wrote a book ‘Inside al-Qaeda and Taliban : beyond bin Laden and 9/11’ which was published by the Dawn newspaper on May 20. This book explains the background and modus operandi of 2008 Mumbai attack in detail. An expert in operations against India, Iliayas Kashmiri astonished the al-Qaeda leadership with his proposal, which suggested that the only solution to end the present deadlock was to expand the war. He advised for a massive campaign which may lead to war between India and Pakistan and which ultimately result in abandonment of all operations against al-Qaeda. Excited by the proposal, al-Qaeda approved the terror attack on India. Shahzad, further writes that Kashmiri handed over the complete plan of the proposed attack to former Major of Pakistan Army, Haroon Aashif, who with the help of Iliyas Kashmiri’s men hijacked the plan and transformed it into a devastating Mumbai attack.
In fact, Shahzad had collected highly explosive information about ISI and al-Qaeda and this investigative journalism proved the death nail in his coffin. Shahzad had expressed his apprehension about a secret mission of the ISI, under which dirty bombs were being developed, and this was in addition to its officially assigned nuclear weapon programme. He feared that some ISI officers could provide these weapons to the terrorist organizations. Syed Salim Shahzad had sufficient information about terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which was not palatable to ISI. Perhaps, he had the knowledge of nuclear weapons in the possession of al-Qaeda and the conspiracy of their being used against Israel and India. Before he could make more revelations, he was silenced. He was silenced, but his pen survives.
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