ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Tuesday raised serious questions about the competence of intelligence agencies, and stated someone must be held responsible for the failure to protect the people of Balochistan.
Conducting the hearing of the Hazara killings suo moto case, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry remarked if former chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani could be held responsible for a previous attack, then why not the prime minister or the governor for the recent one. He also said the court would not order deployment of army in Balochistan, adding it would not go beyond its limit.
The chief justice expressed dissatisfaction over the response from the interior and defence secretaries. He asked Interior Secretary Khawaja Siddique Akbar and Deputy Attorney General Shafi Chandio to submit a detailed report on the questions of the competence of intelligence agencies during the course of the day, to the Registrar Office.
In its order, the three-judge bench of Justice Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, stated the copy of the ruling should be sent to President Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and the Balochistan governor. They might respond to the court’s observations through the attorney general for Pakistan, the order added.
When the bench took up the case after a break, Interior Secretary Khawaja Akbar and Defence Secretary Lt-Gen (retired) Asif Yasin Malik could not satisfy the chief justice as to why the intelligence agencies failed to gather information about those targeting the Hazara community.
The interior secretary told the bench the federal government had changed the inspector general of Balochistan Police, while IB Quetta director was transferred and IB Quetta deputy director was suspended for failing to collect and share intelligence.
The bench also learnt from the interior secretary that Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had sent a parliamentary delegation to hold talks with the protesting families of the victims.
The defence secretary told the bench he did not get enough time to collect reports from the intelligence agencies in Balochistan and could submit a detailed one if more time was given. Justice Chaudhry questioned why the agencies had failed in collecting information before the hearing of the case. He said a strong will was required to counter terrorism and that the government could engage tribal elders and political forces to take action against outlaws. The court will resume the hearing today.