SOS

SLAINED JOURNALIST SALAHUDDIN’S DAUGHTER MRS. SAADIA ANJUM’S LIFE THREATENED

Karachi: January 8, 1998

The life of Mrs Saadia Anjum is under severe threat, after her disclosure of the name of the murderer of her father, Mr Salahuddin, former owner and Editor of the Weekly "Takbeer" published from Karachi, and a strong critic of the MQM.

According to the eyewitness and several newspaper accounts, Saadia is persistently receiving threatening phone calls from the Federal Interior Minister, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and other higher ups of the Government and Intelligence Agencies functionaries to withdraw her statement, in which she named the killer of her father.

She said that the Government functionaries are flexing muscles on the grounds that cases against accused persons are ready, witnesses arranged and cases referred to the Military Courts for quick hearing and sentence. Their view point was that her belated incontrovertible disclosure will dramatically turn around and expose the victimisation policies of the Government against the MQM. The callers threatened her that unless she withdrew her statement, she would face dire consequences including threat to her life, she said.

Emotionally charged Saadia told the Federal Interior Minister and other callers that "she broke her silence because she could not bear the desecration of the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadhan and her conscience was not permitting her to withstand the torment of seeing the innocent "fake accused" sent to the gallows through "fake witnesses" and "mock trials" by the Military Courts, any more".

It is pertinent to mention that all the accused in this case belong to the MQM.