Maulana Azam Tariq murder case: Even after 17 years, the killers could not be found

17 years ago today on October 6, 2003, Maulana Azam Tariq, chief of the outlawed Sipah Sahaba and member of the National Assembly, was killed on the Kashmir Highway in Islamabad. A third attack on Azam Tariq, who survived the rocket attack and bomb blast, proved fatal in which he was shot 42 times.

Further proceedings on the murder case of Maulana Azam Tariq and his four bodyguards were stopped after 17 years. The Anti-Terrorism Court of Islamabad declared the four accused as advertisers and ordered them to enter the office, closing the case file until their arrest or self-presentation. In November last year, the court acquitted the last detained accused, Mohsin Naqvi, giving benefit of doubt, and none of the accused included in the FIR has been convicted yet.

After the investigation and court proceedings, seven accused were acquitted on the basis of insufficient evidence, lack of evidence and benefit of doubt, including chief of banned Tehreek Jafaria Allama Sajid Naqvi, former MNA Nawab Amanullah Sial and Allama. Syed Sabtain Kazmi. After the National Action Plan, Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi, the head of the banned Ahlus Sunnat Wal Jamaat, demanded that the case of Maulana Azam Tariq’s murder be tried in a military court, but this demand was not implemented.
In these 17 years, a price was also fixed on the heads of three accused in the case. Among the absconding accused in the case, the main name is Amjad Abbas Shah alias Bukhari, whose head was set at Rs 20 lakh. Amjad Shah was allegedly associated with the outlawed Sepah Muhammad, and is considered one of the main suspects in the murder.

According to police records, he was also involved in the 2004 blast at a rally held on the death anniversary of Maulana Azam Tariq in Rashidabad, Multan, in which 39 people lost their lives. Amjad Shah was declared accused in this blast case as well.

Another important name is that of accused Rizwan Ali, according to police records he belonged to Imamia Students Federation. A price of Rs 1 lakh was fixed on the head of the accused and he is absconding abroad. Red notices have also been issued to the accused Rizwan Ali through Interpol.

In 1997, Rizwan Ali was also named in the FIR for the killing of General Zia-ul-Haq’s staff member Capt (retd) Majid Raza Geelani in Jhang and was later declared an informant. Syed Kashif Ali Raza, Asad Abbas, Syed Kalb Abbas Kazmi, Syed Salim Haider Zaidi, Mijaz Abbas Rizvi and Syed Mohammad Askari Abidi are wanted in the Azam Tariq murder case. According to Sindh Police’s Red Book, the latter four names are wanted by Karachi Police in Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai’s murder case and other communal acts. According to the ‘wanted terrorist list’ issued by the federal government, the accused Syed Kashif Ali Raza, Syed Kalb Abbas Kazmi and Asad Abbas are absconding in the neighboring country of Iran.
The main name in the FIR was Allama Syed Sabatin Kazmi who was arrested from Islamabad Airport in May 2017. He was declared a regular advertiser in the case in June 2010 and a bounty of Rs 1 million was set on his head. Sabtain Kazimi’s opponents allege that he was also stopped for questioning by Interpol at Baghdad Airport in 2013 as a fugitive in the same case.

In the past, he has been a key official of a banned organization and was counted among the close associates of Allama Sajid Naqvi. After this arrest, a joint investigation team was also formed in the Azam Tariq murder case, but later they were acquitted in the court proceedings.

After the acquittal, Allama Sabtain Kazmi complained that the same way the media had broadcast the news of the arrest, now the acquittal should be given the same coverage. The revision appeal against the acquittal of Allama Sabtain Kazmi in Islamabad High Court Division Bench is under hearing. In November last year, Syed Sabtain Kazmi was tried to be ‘offloaded’ by the airport security force at the Islamabad airport when he was leaving for the UK. On this occasion, Allama Sajid Naqvi and other Shia leaders held telephonic talks with the top government officials, as a result of which Syed Sabatin Kazmi was allowed to go abroad.
Another accused, Mohsin Naqvi, who was released in November last year, was declared an ad in 2010. According to the records of the law enforcement agencies, he was absconding in neighboring Iran for a long time and was arrested on arrival in Pakistan, later the court ordered his acquittal. In 2011, another accused, Hamad Riaz Naqvi, was also acquitted by the court for lack of sufficient evidence, who was arrested by the Karachi Police in 2007 after a police encounter. In 2010, the court acquitted two more accused, Mudassar Ali and Muhammad Ali, giving the benefit of doubt.

Allama Sajid Naqvi, head of the banned Tehreek Jafaria, and former MNA Amanullah Syal were accused of aiding and abetting and were acquitted by the court in November 2004. An appeal against the acquittal of these two personalities was also filed in the division bench of the Islamabad High Court, but it was dismissed in 2015.

Maulana Alam Tariq, the brother of Maulana Azam Tariq, who lodged an FIR of murder in Islamabad’s Golra police station, is currently in custody as a result of the actions taken under the influence of the National Action Plan. After the attack on Army Public School Peshawar in 2015, the series of executions of terrorists in prisons started. At that time, Maulana Alam Tariq was arrested for attending the funeral prayer of Ghulam Shabir alias Doctor, who was sentenced to death by the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, in Talumba Khanewal.

42-year-old Maulana Azam Tariq, who belongs to the Rajput family of Chichawatani Sahiwal, won the National Assembly three times and the Provincial Assembly three times. Maulana Azam Tariq’s son Muhammad Muawiya Azam Tariq was elected as a member of the provincial assembly from the constituency of Jhang Shahr in the general elections of 2018 with 65 thousand votes. Muhammad Muawiya is also an ally of the Imran Khan government in the Punjab Assembly.