Couple shot dead on jirga’s order
By Nisar Ahmad Khan
A man and a woman who had eloped were executed on a jirgaÂ’s order in Kala Dhaka.–AP/File
MANSEHRA:A man and a woman who had eloped were executed on a jirga’s order in the provincially administered tribal area of Kala Dhaka on Friday morning.
The jirga was held on the intervention of the political administration to review its order of killing Alia Bibi and Azeemul Haq, but it upheld its decision and they were shot dead.
Political Tehsildar Jamshed Khan told Dawn: ‘I regret the killing, but what can I do. There is no other law except the jirga system in the area.’
He said that the bodies were handed over to the relatives, who buried them. The victims had been arrested by Alpuri police in Shangla on Feb 26, but they were kidnapped and taken to Kala Dhaka after their release on bail. They were required to be presented in a court in Alpuri on May 5.
The tehsildar said the Constitution and law had permitted jirga system in the area to decide local affairs for the past 60 years.
District coordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Raza Khan, alleged that the administration was equally responsible for the killing.
He said two minor sisters from Karachi who had been declared vani had recently been recovered from the area after a suo motu notice by the Supreme Court. ‘Why this couple could not be saved whose case is still pending in a civil court in Shangla.’
Source: Dawn
Date:4/25/2009
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