Two men died this week. And I watched a whole country clap.
Two cases. Two accused. Both killed in police custody.
One in Islamabad. A gold medalist took her own life after an agent defrauded her of 7 million by selling her an opportunity abroad.
One in Multan. An orphanage murder that shook people.
In both, the accused were reportedly being shifted when “someone else” attacked and killed them.
Same story every time. “Killed in crossfire by his own men.”
We know this script. It has a name: police muqabla.
And Then I Opened Social Media
People were celebrating. “Perfect.” “Finally, justice.” “Should have been done earlier.”
I understand the anger. I really do.
But let’s call it what it is.
Extrajudicial killing is murder. In uniform.
What The Law Actually Says
Most of us never read this, so let me share it:
- Article 9: No person shall be deprived of life or liberty except in accordance with law.
- Article 10: An arrested person must be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours.
- Article 10A: Every accused has the right to a fair trial.
Notice what is missing. Nowhere does it say “unless the public is angry enough.” The Constitution doesn’t make an exception for a confessed criminal.
And this isn’t theory. According to a Daily Times report, the Lahore High Court Multan Bench ordered a murder case (Section 302) against a CCD DSP, an SHO and other police officials over an alleged fake encounter, after the victim’s mother filed a petition. A court looked at one of these “encounters” and ordered an FIR for murder.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s fact-finding report alleged that the CCD followed a deliberate policy of staged encounters. It counted at least 670 CCD encounters across Punjab in just eight months of 2025.
Six hundred and seventy. In eight months.
Why Are We Celebrating?
Not because we love blood. Because our courts failed us. Cases take years, criminals walk free, victims wait for decades.
So when someone gets killed without a trial, we call it justice, because we’ve forgotten what real justice looks like.
But look at what we are actually clapping for:
- Someone decided, without a court, that a man should die.
- No evidence was tested. No defense was heard.
- The same people who killed him also wrote the report on how it happened.
If they can do this to a proven criminal today, who checks them tomorrow?
Today It is Criminals. Tomorrow It is Us.
Today the dead man is a fraudster or a murderer, and you cheer.
Tomorrow it could be a man wrongly accused, someone with an enemy in the system, or someone who simply made the wrong person angry.
And on that day, nobody will be left to ask for a trial.
What Should Actually Happen
If you want justice, build it. Courts, fast trials, proper investigation, real punishment through the law.
Don’t cheer for shortcuts. A shortcut that kills without a trial will never stay limited to criminals.
I understand the anger. But celebrating this is not justice. Don’t trust any government with the power to decide, without a trial, who lives and who dies.
– Umar H.
Originally posted on Facebook on 21 October 2026.
