ISLAMABAD: On the request of Pakistan’s defense ministry, the government has approved setting up a three-member commission to “inquire into the facts” of the death of journalist Arshad Sharif, killed in Kenya on October 23, local media said.
Sharif, a hugely popular Pakistani talk show host, was killed earlier this month when the car he was in sped up and drove through a checkpoint outside the Kenyan capital and police opened fire. Nairobi police expressed regret over the incident, saying it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a car involved in a child abduction case.
On Monday, the government set it was setting up a commission — led by Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha and comprising Additional Inspector General of Police Usman Anwar and Intelligence Bureau (IB) Deputy Director General Omar Shahid Hamid — under the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Act, 2017.
An official notification widely quoted by local media said the defense ministry had proposed a “highest-level inquiry” into the killing in collaboration with the government of Kenya to “ascertain the facts.”
“Moreover, post this incident, unnecessary rumor-mongering, virulent speculations and smear campaign has been launched against the armed forces,” Dawn reported.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the commission to submit its report within 30 days and be provided with “secretarial support” by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The development comes after the military requested the government to conduct a “high-level investigation” into Sharif’s mysterious killing.
A two-member Pakistan government team comprising Federal Investigation Agency director Athar Wahid and the intelligence bureau’s Omar Shahid Hamid is currently in Kenya to gather more information about the murder.
Sharif’s body was repatriated to Pakistan last week. The popular anchorman was buried at Islamabad’s H-9 graveyard after a post-mortem at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. It was rare in the history of Pakistan for a local journalist to have a funeral as large as Sharif’s.