Killing of civilians in shellingPHC summons officials

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday directed the attorney general of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general to appear in person to explain if the government would pay diyat amount of the innocent civilians killed in the shelling during military operation or normal compensation package.
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Lal Jan Khattak put on notice both the officials in a writ petition of Khan Asghar. His six family members, including minor child and two women, were killed and eight others injured in Pakistan Air Force shelling on his house.
Khan Asghar, a resident of Zargari area in the Hangu district had filed the petition. He had sought diyat amount from the government for killing his six family members. The slain people included his two daughters Hakeema and Asia and a son Abdul Hameed, two grandsons one-year-old Muhammad Bilal and one and a half years old Abdullah.
The shelling on June 11, 2009 also left seriously injured eight other members of his family. Among them were Siad Juma, Hameeda, Majida, Saima, Saleha, Badshah Bibi and Muhammad Yasir.
During hearing into the case, the chief justice observed that killing of civilians in the operations was a serious matter but the government was paying such a small compensation to the aggrieved families.
He questioned the record about the deaths of six civilians as they were neither terrorists nor involved in any anti-state activities. “The government should at least pay an amount equal to diyat for the deaths of the civilians,” the chief justice observed. The petitioner’s lawyer Muhammad Ilyas submitted that the Hangu deputy commissioner had confirmed to the court that six members of a family were killed and eight injured in the incident. However, he added, there was no report from the officials mentioning that the petitioner and his family members were terrorists or had any links with the banned organisation.