Journalist Arshad Sharif died in Kenya reportedly after being shot, his wife Javeria Siddique confirmed early on Monday morning.
“I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist [Arshad Sharif] today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” she tweeted.Confirming the journalist’s demise, the Foreign Office said Pakistan’s high commissioner to Kenya, along with other officials, reached Chiromo Funeral House in Nairobi where she identified Sharif’s body.
“Further procedures including police report are awaited,” the statement said.
The high commission would facilitate early return of Sharif’s body to Pakistan, the Foreign Office said, adding that the journalist’s family had been assured of all possible assistance.
Mystery surrounds the circumstances that led to the journalist’s death. Some Pakistani media outlets initially reported Sharif had been shot at but then said he died in an accident. Sharif’s wife later tweeted he had been shot dead.
Meanwhile, Kenyan media quoted the local police as saying Sharif was shot dead by police in a case of “mistaken identity”. It said the incident took place on Sunday night along the Nairobi-Magadi highway.
Talking to the media after visiting Sharif’s house later in the day, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said Sharif was shot at a police checkpoint at an hour’s distance from Nairobi.
“He was travelling with a man named Kurram Ahmed […] the car was driven by a local. It is being said that they refused to stop at the police check post,” she said. However, drifting off, the minister added that “we can’t say anything until and unless all these details are shared by the Kenyan government”.
On the other hand, a Nation report stated Kurram was Sharif’s brother and he was driving the vehicle.
Sharif, who was a fierce critic of the incumbent government and the country’s military establishment, had left Pakistan earlier this year after sedition cases were registered against him in different cities.
IHC instructs officials to meet Sharif’s family
Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah, while hearing a petition seeking an inquiry into Sharif’s death, instructed representatives from the foreign and interior ministries to immediately meet the journalist’s family.
The court also issued notices to the federal and interior secretaries.
The petition filed by Advocate Shoaib Razzaq, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, requested the court to order the formation of a judicial commission to investigate why the journalist was forced to flee Pakistan, and later the United Arab Emirates.
“The judicial commission may also be directed to liaison with national agencies and the Kenyan agencies and probe into the heinous act which had led to the unwarranted cold-blooded murder of Arshad Sharif,” the petition stated.
It also requested the court to issue directives for bringing the journalist’s body back to Pakistan.
Sharif ‘paid ultimate price for speaking truth’: Imran
Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan said he was shocked at Sharif’s death.
He said the journalist had “paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth - his life. He had to leave the country & be in hiding abroad but he continued to speak the truth on social media, exposing the powerful. Today the entire nation mourns his death.”
Imran called for an investigation into Sharif’s death using the journalist’s own statements as well as other evidence. “We have descended into a state of brutality, unknown in civilised society, indulged in by the powerful against those who dare to criticise & expose wrongdoing,” he added.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said that there was a “long, grim record of violent tactics to silence journalists” which is why Sharif’s death sent shockwaves throughout the journalist community.
It also urged the government to pursue an immediate, transparent inquiry into the circumstances of his death.President Dr Arif Alvi termed Sharif’s death a loss for journalism and Pakistan. “May his soul rest in peace and may his family, which includes his followers, have the strength to bear this loss,” Alvi said.
“My brother, my friend, my colleague Arshad Shareef was shot dead in Kenya … I still can’t believe it. It’s beyond heart breaking. This is just wrong … this is painful … I love u brother,” ARY News anchorperson Kashif Abbasi tweeted.
“Unbelievable. May Allah rest the soul of Arshad Sharif in peace. Ameen,” journalist Hamid Mir tweeted.