Murder attempts - Dr. Azra Fazal, MNA
Letter from Ms Fauzia Wahab to HR organizations

February 17, 2007

Dear Sir/Madam,

I attach a photo of the car in which sister-in-law of former Prime Minister, Dr Azra, herself a Parliamentarian, was traveling this February when she was shot at by the bodyguards of a provincial minister. Dr Azra was sitting in the front seat next to the driver. As you can see from the photograph, Dr Azra was shot at from both the front and back of the car as the windscreen in her portion is shattered in both front and back. Further, the driver was also shot at to stop the car. Fortunately Dr Azra did not travel in her own car on the day and was saved by the bullet proof windscreen which took the weight of the bullets. Had it been otherwise, God forbid, she, and the driver, would not have been in this world today.

Unfortunately the Musharaf-Aziz dictatorship is giving political protection to the murderous assailants. Under the law of the land, they are to be arrested and tried for attempted murder. They still have not been arrested and are at large.

I draw attention of this matter to you as your organization is giving considerable funding to the present regime and also in the name of justice. I hope you will use your influence to prevent further violence in Pakistani society by taking up the matter with the military regime in Pakistan. Unless this is done, the dark and sordid story of disappearances of nationalist leaders, the murders of political opponent, the murder attempts and the goon squads meeting out instant justice through physical violence will increase.

Sincerely,

Fauzia Wahab, MNA
Central Coordinator
Human Rights Cell PPP

It is time for Mr. Musharraf to stop playing with fire -- in other words, with radical Islamists. He should remember that Pakistani voters are moderate. The two biggest, mainstream, moderate parties received more than 80 per cent of the vote in the last election. Compare that to the MMA, which controls the North-West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan. The alliance polled only 10 per cent of the national vote in the 2002 election. Islamists may have "street power" in Pakistan and be able to organize large demonstrations against unpopular cartoons and set off bombs, but they have little popular appeal. That said, so long as moderate political parties remain effectively marginalized, the Islamists will present themselves as the only effective platform for anti-military protest.