Fatima Jinnah Women University lecturer Salman Haider has gone missing from Islamabad. PHOTO: FACEBOOK
It is still unclear how Mr Haider returned home with the only information available thus far being that police sources say he is currently with his family and that he is in normal condition and his brother reaffirming that he is “fine and safe”. Mr Salman Haider’s safe return is a cause for celebration for his family and well-wishers who have, no doubt, spent many sleepless nights, but the question of how and why he disappeared is the proverbial elephant in the room. Other questions also arise about the security measures, or lack thereof, in the nation’s capital. How was it possible that a large SUV, which was purportedly tailing Mr Haider and is believed to be involved in his abduction, was roaming the streets of Islamabad with a fake licence plate? Why was there only one operational CCTV camera of the highly touted Safe City Project that was able to capture the suspect vehicle as it made its way to Rawalpindi? One would imagine after the Marriott blast and the GHQ attack both Islamabad and Rawalpindi would have effective measures to identify fake plate vehicles and functional CCTV camera systems. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had instructed the police and other authorities to utilise all available resources to expedite the recovery of Mr Haider, but how much can the law-enforcement agencies actually do with equipment and protocols that just do not seem to work?
The why part of Mr Salman Haider’s disappearance has been subject to great speculation with most quarters pointing to his outspoken views on religious and social inequality as being a contributing cause. Although not confirmed yet, if this is true, the threat to the freedom of expression of the people cannot be ignored. Social activism plays an important role in identifying causes for social inequality, bringing to the forefront causes which may otherwise be ignored. The voices of social activism need to be cherished, not hushed. There will always be dissenting voices that disagree with the corridors of power and there are more constructive ways to receive and understand them.
The general populace deserves to know the circumstances surrounding Mr Haider’s abduction and release and also why there was such a security lapse which allowed him to be abducted. The fears and concerns of the people need to be addressed by conducting an impartial probe into the matter and making the findings public. It is better to deliver the facts to the people, rather than letting speculations gestate. Uncertainty almost always results in pandemonium.
As the fate of the remaining missing activists remains unknown, we hope that they also return to their loved ones safe and sound, and the perpetrators of these abductions are reprimanded for their actions, which are ultra vires the Constitution. The executive, legislative and judicial arms of the government must condemn such disappearances and take effective steps within the defines of their power to ensure that these disappearances do not become a part of the routine. The activists were people who were in the limelight and supposedly had ‘connections’; if they can disappear without a trace, it is perturbing to think what fate awaits the common man for speaking publicly in an activist’s role.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2017.
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