A welcome return

Whilst we are happy with this outcome, there now arise a host of questions, some of which may be answered & others not

By the time these words are read, Shahbaz Taseer, son of the slain governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer, will be safe in his family home in Lahore. A kidnapping outcome that does not end in a shootout and/or the death of the person who has been kidnapped is something of a rarity, and all the more welcome for that. He was recovered in a joint operation that was intelligence-driven and reportedly found, alone, at the Al Saleem hotel in Kuchlak, north of Quetta.

No arrests were made and he was flown back to Lahore on a special flight arranged by the Interior Ministry. Photos posted by Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa of ISPR on Twitter showed Shahbaz to be smiling if a little gaunt, and some of the responses to the Twitter posting were, to say the very least, unfriendly.



Whilst we are happy with this outcome, there now arise a host of questions, some of which may be answered and others not. Was a ransom paid? By who and how much? Who was holding him? Was it a purely criminal act or was he held for political reasons? Is it too much of a coincidence that he was released within days of the hanging of his father’s murderer? All these and many more are currently doing the rounds on the internet, and the usual conspiracy theories are much to the fore, none of them with anything by way of substance to back them up. We will not give any of them the oxygen of publicity.

Kidnapping, be it for purely personal gain or for political motives, is a multi-victim crime affecting many beyond the victims themselves. The extended family of the victim may suffer — as in this case — years of uncertainty as to the fate of their relative.

They are prey to the trolls of the internet that spread rumour and innuendo and often uncertain as to the extent the agencies of state are actively pursuing the recovery. Another high-profile victim is still missing, the son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, and we can but hope for a speedy and successful outcome in that protracted and unhappy case.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2016.

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