KARACHI: The trailer of an action biopic on the life of celebrated Karachi policeman Chaudhry Aslam who was assassinated in 2014 by the Taliban, was released on Saturday in the seaside city where he served for most of his career.
‘Chaudhry- The Martyr’ is a thriller and captures the heroic encounters of the police superintendent played by his close friend and colleague, Tariq Islam.
"The true life of Chaudhry Aslam has been depicted in the film-- he who stood like a rock in front of every actor of violence that existed in Karachi during his long police career," Islam told Arab News.
“I worked for around 15 years with Chaudhry and not only do we look alike, but I also share his attitude and gestures to a great extent. This was the reason the film’s producers signed me up for the leading role,” Islam continued.
Chaudhry Aslam joined Sindh Police in 1984 and served as station head in several police stations across southern Sindh and southwestern Balochistan provinces. The officer became known for his tough police encounters during military operations against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi in the 90’s, and during his career arrested gang-war criminals, militants and target killers. He received widespread fame after he was appointed head of the Lyari Task Force in 2005 and ordered to end gang wars in Lyari Town.
Aslam arrested and killed several Taliban militants over the years which invited the wrath of the militant group, and managed to survive a bomb attack on his home in Karachi in 2011 where eight people were killed.
“I will bury the attackers in the same place here. I will not step back,” he said after the attack while talking to media, and directly addressed the Taliban.
Although his actions against Taliban earned him widespread recognition, there were also allegations of extrajudicial killings and human rights violations during his career.
The murder of Rasool Bux Brohi in 2006, who Aslam’s team had claimed was notorious dacoit Mashooq Brohi, landed the officer in jail. He was released on bail after spending 16 months in prison.
But Islam said the film addressed the allegations of Aslam’s fake encounters, “which were already cleared by the court during his lifetime.”
“The courts and investigation had declared all his encounters real and authentic when he was alive,” Islam added.
‘Chaudhry-- The Martyr’ which is currently in production has no set release date yet. It has been directed by Sajjad Azim and features a prominent cast including Arbaz Khan, Sana Fakhar, Jia Ali, Shamoon Abbasi, Yasir Hussain and Adnan Shah.
Trailer released for action biopic of tough Karachi cop killed by Taliban
https://arab.news/gdvxx
Trailer released for action biopic of tough Karachi cop killed by Taliban
- Chaudhry Aslam was widely considered a brave and controversial policeman
- His character in the film is played by a close friend and colleague
Pakistan's Sindh announces judicial inquiry into deadly Karachi plaza fire
- Around 80 people were killed in Karachi Gul Plaza fire that broke out on Jan. 17, says Sindh information minister
- Says initial fact-finding committee discovered fire tenders were provided water with delay, which affected firefighting
ISLAMABAD: Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon announced on Thursday that the provincial government has requested a judicial inquiry into a deadly Karachi shopping plaza inferno that killed around 80 people earlier this month.
The fire broke out at Karachi's famous Gul Plaza, a multi-story shopping complex in the city's Saddar area, on the night of Jan. 17. The blaze killed 80 and took three days to extinguish, while rescue and relief efforts took over a week.
Speaking to reporters during a news conference, Memon said a Sindh cabinet sub-committee, chaired by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, reviewed a fact-finding committee report on the Karachi Gul Plaza fire.
He said the fact-finding committee discovered that the Civil Defense department conducted fire safety audits of the mall and other buildings since 2023, but no effective, precautionary or legal action was taken to ensure such incidents were avoided. He said as a result, the Civil Defense director and the department's additional controller for district South were both suspended.
"A letter is being written to the honorable chief justice of the Sindh High Court in which we are requesting the chief justice to appoint a serving judge for a judicial inquiry," Memon said.
"So that we can review everything in accordance with the law himself and take decisions on it."
Memon said that there were around 2,000 to 2,500 people in the building when the fire broke out, adding that these included workers and visitors.
He said the sub-committee had also noted that fire tenders were provided water with delay which affected the firefighting services of the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC), Rescue 1122 and fire brigades.
The minister said the government had also suspended the chief engineer and in-charge hydrants of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation, and that action will be taken against them.
Memon said the committee had also concluded that the KMC, Rescue 1122 and fire brigades' firefighting tools and training to deal with an inferno of such a scale were "inadequate."
He said the government has also suspended the senior director of municipal services in the KMC and that departmental action against him will be taken for not ensuring that the fire staff was properly prepared to tackle such a blaze.
The minister said the sub-committee had directed the relevant department to carry out a needs assessment so that the firefighting capabilities of the provincial and local government are further strengthened.
Fires have become an increasingly frequent occurrence in Karachi, a megacity of more than 20 million people, where fire services remain severely overstretched and under-resourced relative to population density and the scale of commercial activity.
Successive deadly incidents have drawn criticism of the provincial Sindh administration over lax enforcement of building codes, inadequate inspections and limited emergency response capacity.
Sindh's opposition parties, especially the Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan, accuse the Sindh government of neglecting Karachi's infrastructural development. The provincial government rejects these allegations.
