Men in masks

The standoff between the Sindh police and former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza could be said to be getting more comic by the day if it weren’t for the seriousness of the entire affair. On Saturday, as Zulfiqar Mirza appeared before the Sindh High Court, police decided to surround the court premises in an apparent siege. As Mirza appeared before an anti-terrorist court after his bail was about to expire, police appeared to have gathered around the court in the hope of arresting him as he left. But the situation turned even stranger as men in black masks and heavy contingents of police led by SSP South Chaudhry Asad took positions outside ATC-III. Soon, quite inexplicably, the men in black masks began to attack the media personnel stationed at the court to cover the case. Cameras and car windows were broken and journalists beaten while doing their duty. Around 24 of Zulfiqar Mirza’s guards were also reported to have been held. Former National Assembly speaker Fehmida Mirza has called it the reign of the Gullu Butts of Sindh. Media reports suggested that the Sindh government had decided to pre-emptively arrest Zulfiqar Mirza before the court hearing and a possible extension of his bail over a standoff at the Badin police station. The court, has extended Mirza’s bail by a week.
While Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar took verbal notice of the police excesses, the SHC has ordered the suspension of Karachi’s SSP South and rejected the written apologies of the IG Sindh and Additional IG Karachi. The court said that contempt of court charges will be framed against both police officers for being ‘silently’ involved in the attack on media workers. The court also asked the provincial home secretary to explain who issued the orders. The court has also said that the sanctity of the court had been compromised. This is correct. Media workers merely doing their job should not be under threat. Moreover, any arrest order issued by the SHC should require a small contingent of police – not masked men in more-than-necessary numbers. The Sindh police has created the situation on its own but the provincial government surely has a hand to play. Whatever the nature of the charges against Mirza, it is bizarre that hundreds of police officials are needed to surround the court when he chooses to appear in court. Police high-handedness, however, is an issue around the country as we saw with the Punjab police on Monday. The police appear to be clueless about the limits of their power. With Mirza set to appear in court this week again, there is no way of knowing whether the scenes at the court will be more chaotic or less.