THAT one of the most dangerous and devious militants in Pakistan may be on the verge of gaining his freedom is a disturbing prospect. On Thursday, the Sindh High Court set aside the provincial government’s detention orders for Omer Saeed Sheikh and three others convicted for the abduction and murder of Daniel Pearl and directed they be released forthwith. It is the latest development in a case where there have been several unexpected twists and turns. Eight months ago, the SHC appellate bench overturned the death penalty handed down to Sheikh in 2002 as the main accused and acquitted him and his accomplices of murder and kidnapping for ransom. However, it found him guilty of abducting the American journalist and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment. Given Sheikh had already been incarcerated for 18 years, his release was imminent. The Sindh government moved quickly and filed an appeal in the Supreme Court — as did Daniel Pearl’s parents — and also detained the men under the Maintenance of Public Order. In the recent hearing however, the government was unable to convincingly argue the case for the men’s continued detention. Following an interim order temporarily barring their release, no further progress has been made on the appeals in the apex court.

Sheikh’s criminal career is a chilling profile of a wily and ruthless man. He was serving time in an Indian jail in connection with the kidnapping of several foreign tourists in that country in the mid-1990s, when he was sprung from prison in 1999 on the demand of militants who had hijacked an Indian airliner and were holding the passengers hostage. That was followed up by the grisly episode of Pearl’s abduction and murder in January 2002. Even while behind bars, Sheikh continued to display an implacable zeal to act on his extremist convictions. Suspected of having played a role in one of the assassination attempts on Gen Musharraf, he even contrived to intensify India-Pakistan tensions around the time of the Mumbai attacks by making hoax calls to Pakistan’s then president. That he was convicted for Pearl’s murder was a feather in Pakistan’s cap where the battle against militancy was concerned. However, the appeals process highlighted the appallingly shoddy investigation process which allowed many co-conspirators to escape even being charged. One hopes the apex court resumes hearing the appeals quickly so that this dangerous man remains behind bars.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2020