Hayat is dead
Published by The News on Sunday 2006 circa
The insistence of Hayatullah to disprove the official claims about the US missiles attack in Esorhi village in December was the beginning of the end for him
By Behroz Khan
The cold-blooded murder of journalist Hayatullah Khan Dawar in the restive North Waziristan Agency in mysterious circumstances sends a clear-cut message to all journalists working in tribal as well as settled areas -- there are limits they must abide by.
Hayatullah Khan, 30 and a father of four, was found dead in the mountains of Khaisur village, south of Mirali town, on June 16. He was shot several times in the head from behind while handcuffed and the intention behind this, experts believe, was to give the impression as if the journalist was killed while attempting to escape from captivity. Hayatullah Khan was kidnapped from the main Mirali-Bannu road on December 5 last year by a group of bearded men armed with Ak-47 assault rifles when he was on his way to cover a students' demonstration against the US missile attack in Esorhi village on December 1.
Earlier, reporting by Hayatullah about the same air strike had belied official claims that the house owned by Muhammad Siddiq was destroyed when explosives present there exploded, killing three alleged wanted al-Qaeda operatives too. President Pervez Musharraf claimed he was 500 per cent sure that al-Qaeda No-3, Hamza Rabia was among the dead.
Hayatullah, like a few others, did not agree and came up with photographs and facts that suggested the house may have been targeted with missiles from an unmanned US drone. His reports were critical of the political administration and the military operating in the region to hunt down al-Qaeda men and their local supporters. Hayatullah remained missing for six months and 10 days and was finally eliminated. In the interim, no militant or criminal group contacted his family either for ransom nor one claimed responsibility of his kidnapping.
"This is not Taliban-style because they dispose off cases of suspected informers and pro-government agents in a few days," says Ihsanullah Khan Dawar, younger brother of Hayatullah. Hayatullah's family holds agencies responsible for his captivity. Fellow journalists draw a comparison between the assassination of US journalist Daniel Pearl and the murder of Hayatullah, although the circumstances may have varied.
Ihsanullah says officials had assured his family that Hayatullah was being questioned and detained in the interest of the country. "'The day his name is cleared, he will be released'," Ihsanullah quoted one military officer as telling him. It was a major in the secret services who called up Ihsanullah to inform him about Hayat's death and where to find his body.
Hayatullah, according to his brother, was first threatened on November 17, prompting him to rush to Islamabad on November 21 to inform fellow journalist and close friend, Hamid Mir. He was offered three choices: leave the agency; stop reporting while staying at Mirali; or accept the position of a naib muharer (head clerk) in the political administration.
Two other journalists, Amir Nawab Wazir and Allah Noor Wazir, were gunned down and a third Anwar Shakir was critically injured in February 2005 in neighbouring South Waziristan Agency. The vehicle carrying them from Sra Rogha after attending the agreement signing ceremony between the military and a local Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, was ambushed in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan.
There was no probe and no one was brought to justice while journalists continued to be targeted. Their houses, offices and vehicles were hit, thus forcing the entire journalist fraternity to move out of the insecure tribal region and take refuge in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan. No journalist is based in South Waziristan today. While reporting about the situation in the tribal belt, a number of Peshawar-based journalists, including this reporter, have been threatened and subjected to the most abusive language on telephone by unidentified callers.
The mystery about Hayatullah's disappearance is compounded by statements and assurances made by officials to the family and journalists. Ihsanullah quotes Political Agent North Waziristan, Syed Zahirul Islam, as saying on May 15 that he was powerless to secure the release of Hayat.
Prior to that, the same official had informed Ihsanullah that his brother had been seen at Bagram Airbase and was in the custody of the US forces, a claim rejected by the Peshawar-based US Consul General, Michael Spangler during a luncheon hosted by him for the journalists on May 10 in Peshawar.
On December 24, in the presence of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at the Governor House, Peshawar, then governor Khalilur Rehman categorically said: "He (Hayat) has not been kidnapped." Secretary to the governor told journalists that the more you demonstrate, the more you delay his release.
Hayatullah was arrested in Birmal area of Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province by US forces in 2001 and was detained at the Machadad Kot military base for a week, but was later allowed to go. "He was arrested on suspicion of being a spokesman for Mullah Omar," Ihsanullah said, adding that his brother was neither close to the Taliban nor has he worked against them.
Ihsanullah, who wishes to follow his brother into journalism, has been demanding an impartial inquiry into the murder. The federal government has set up a judicial inquiry commission headed by a judge of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Muhammad Raza Khan, to probe into the case and bring the facts behind the murder to the fore. The commission will look into allegations and the circumstances in which Hayat went.
Article 247 deals with the administration of the Tribal Areas and says that (1) subject to the Constitution, the executive authority of the federation shall extend to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and the executive authority of a province shall extend to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas therein. (2) The President may, from time to time, give directions to the Governor of a province relating to the whole or any part of a Tribal Area within the Province as he may deem necessary, And the Governor shall, in the exercise of function under this Article, comply with such directions.
Published by The News on Sunday 2006 circa
The insistence of Hayatullah to disprove the official claims about the US missiles attack in Esorhi village in December was the beginning of the end for him
By Behroz Khan
The cold-blooded murder of journalist Hayatullah Khan Dawar in the restive North Waziristan Agency in mysterious circumstances sends a clear-cut message to all journalists working in tribal as well as settled areas -- there are limits they must abide by.
Hayatullah Khan, 30 and a father of four, was found dead in the mountains of Khaisur village, south of Mirali town, on June 16. He was shot several times in the head from behind while handcuffed and the intention behind this, experts believe, was to give the impression as if the journalist was killed while attempting to escape from captivity. Hayatullah Khan was kidnapped from the main Mirali-Bannu road on December 5 last year by a group of bearded men armed with Ak-47 assault rifles when he was on his way to cover a students' demonstration against the US missile attack in Esorhi village on December 1.
Earlier, reporting by Hayatullah about the same air strike had belied official claims that the house owned by Muhammad Siddiq was destroyed when explosives present there exploded, killing three alleged wanted al-Qaeda operatives too. President Pervez Musharraf claimed he was 500 per cent sure that al-Qaeda No-3, Hamza Rabia was among the dead.
Hayatullah, like a few others, did not agree and came up with photographs and facts that suggested the house may have been targeted with missiles from an unmanned US drone. His reports were critical of the political administration and the military operating in the region to hunt down al-Qaeda men and their local supporters. Hayatullah remained missing for six months and 10 days and was finally eliminated. In the interim, no militant or criminal group contacted his family either for ransom nor one claimed responsibility of his kidnapping.
"This is not Taliban-style because they dispose off cases of suspected informers and pro-government agents in a few days," says Ihsanullah Khan Dawar, younger brother of Hayatullah. Hayatullah's family holds agencies responsible for his captivity. Fellow journalists draw a comparison between the assassination of US journalist Daniel Pearl and the murder of Hayatullah, although the circumstances may have varied.
Ihsanullah says officials had assured his family that Hayatullah was being questioned and detained in the interest of the country. "'The day his name is cleared, he will be released'," Ihsanullah quoted one military officer as telling him. It was a major in the secret services who called up Ihsanullah to inform him about Hayat's death and where to find his body.
Hayatullah, according to his brother, was first threatened on November 17, prompting him to rush to Islamabad on November 21 to inform fellow journalist and close friend, Hamid Mir. He was offered three choices: leave the agency; stop reporting while staying at Mirali; or accept the position of a naib muharer (head clerk) in the political administration.
Two other journalists, Amir Nawab Wazir and Allah Noor Wazir, were gunned down and a third Anwar Shakir was critically injured in February 2005 in neighbouring South Waziristan Agency. The vehicle carrying them from Sra Rogha after attending the agreement signing ceremony between the military and a local Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, was ambushed in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan.
There was no probe and no one was brought to justice while journalists continued to be targeted. Their houses, offices and vehicles were hit, thus forcing the entire journalist fraternity to move out of the insecure tribal region and take refuge in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan. No journalist is based in South Waziristan today. While reporting about the situation in the tribal belt, a number of Peshawar-based journalists, including this reporter, have been threatened and subjected to the most abusive language on telephone by unidentified callers.
The mystery about Hayatullah's disappearance is compounded by statements and assurances made by officials to the family and journalists. Ihsanullah quotes Political Agent North Waziristan, Syed Zahirul Islam, as saying on May 15 that he was powerless to secure the release of Hayat.
Prior to that, the same official had informed Ihsanullah that his brother had been seen at Bagram Airbase and was in the custody of the US forces, a claim rejected by the Peshawar-based US Consul General, Michael Spangler during a luncheon hosted by him for the journalists on May 10 in Peshawar.
On December 24, in the presence of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at the Governor House, Peshawar, then governor Khalilur Rehman categorically said: "He (Hayat) has not been kidnapped." Secretary to the governor told journalists that the more you demonstrate, the more you delay his release.
Hayatullah was arrested in Birmal area of Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province by US forces in 2001 and was detained at the Machadad Kot military base for a week, but was later allowed to go. "He was arrested on suspicion of being a spokesman for Mullah Omar," Ihsanullah said, adding that his brother was neither close to the Taliban nor has he worked against them.
Ihsanullah, who wishes to follow his brother into journalism, has been demanding an impartial inquiry into the murder. The federal government has set up a judicial inquiry commission headed by a judge of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Muhammad Raza Khan, to probe into the case and bring the facts behind the murder to the fore. The commission will look into allegations and the circumstances in which Hayat went.
Article 247 deals with the administration of the Tribal Areas and says that (1) subject to the Constitution, the executive authority of the federation shall extend to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and the executive authority of a province shall extend to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas therein. (2) The President may, from time to time, give directions to the Governor of a province relating to the whole or any part of a Tribal Area within the Province as he may deem necessary, And the Governor shall, in the exercise of function under this Article, comply with such directions.
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