Following reports that Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley declared that Ishrat Jahan was indeed a Lashkar fidayeen, her family came out in her defence. Ishrat had been killed in a police encounter in 2004.
Ishrat’s mother and other family members held a a press conference on Monday where they revealed that they had been receiving threats regularly.
“By spreading baseless allegations, some interested parties are planning to give a twist to this case just before the conclusion of the trial, which is two months away,” said Shamima Kausar, Ishrat’s mother.
Shamima was flanked by son Shaikh Anwar and daughter Musarrat at the conference. Local NGO My Mumbra Foundation is helping Ishrat’s family with the litigation. “It’s been proved that Ishrat was shot at point-blank range. When the case is pending before the Supreme Court, how can one make such dirty allegations?” Rauf Lala, member of the My Mumbra Foundation, said.
He added, “The apex court’s judgement is just two months away and we are sure it will be in our favour.” Lala asserted that Ishrat had gone missing from Mumbra and within a few days the family learnt of her death through television news reports.
