ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Content of application against the senior journalist Hamid Mir for kidnapping Khalid Khawaja contracts the information given by applicant of the case in her own book that was published in early 2016.
The author of a book title “Khalid Khawaja—Shaheed-i-Aman” (Khalid Khawaja Martyr of Peace), (خالد خواجه — شہید امن) Shamama Khalid submitted an application with Islamabad High Court (IHC) in which she claimed that senior journalist Hamid Mir was behind kidnapping and killing of her husband Khalid Khawaja. An FIR (First Information Report) number 307/17 was registered against Hamid Mir on the night of November 4, 2017 on the direction of IHC. However, book titled “Khalid Khawaja—Shaheed-i-Aman” (Khalid Khawaja– Martyr of Peace) written by applicant Shamama Khalid says that Khalid Khawaja went to tribal area of Pakistan and restive Afghanistan on a Peace Mission and he was in contact with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) .
Shamama Khalid writes in her book that Khawaja Khalid was killed by a splinter group of the TTP while he was on a peace mission in the restive tribal areas. She says in her book that Khalid Khawaja went to North Waziristan along with retired Col Imam and British journalist Asad Qureshi. The book claims that Khawaja had visited North Wazirstan prior to March 2010 and had met TTP leaders Waliur Rehman Mehsud, Hakimullah Mehsud, and Sher Khan, a commander from the Haqqani Network.
The book further says that when Khawaja contacted his Taliban contacts and asked if he could bring along the journalist Asad Qureshi, he was not given permission to do so. In the meantime, Usman Punjabi, an activist of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and a leader of the Asian Tigers group, offered him their support.
According to the book, Asian Tigers group later took Khawaja and the other two hostage. Khawaja and Col Imam ended up being executed at their hands.
Wife of Khalid Khawaja, Shamama Khalid further writes in her book that the ‘good’ Taliban were sympathetic to Khawaja and Col Imam, but had gone into hiding due to the drone strikes and could not be reached to negotiate the release of the hostages.
The book alleges that the Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were behind the killing of Khawaja and Col Imam.
Strangely, Shamama Khalid (who is author of the book) submitted an application to Islamabad High Court that her husband was kidnapped from Islamabad and journalist Hamid Mir was involved in kidnapping. How a person who went to tribal area on his own free will for a peace mission could be called “Kidnapped”? . This is a question that will determine the fate of this case.
