Bugti calls for parliamentary debate on missing persons

Interior minister says issue should not be used for electioneering

ISLAMABAD:

Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti stressed the need for negotiations to resolve the ongoing sit-in outside the Parliament House led by the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), urging senators on Monday not to compare Palestine with Balochistan.

Speaking here at the Senate, he said that while the BNP-M had initially been granted permission for a press conference and a token protest at the Islamabad Press Club, they subsequently moved their demonstration to the Red Zone, where they continued to stage a sit-in.

Bugti told the house that BNP-M chief Akhtar Mengal was a seasoned politician and his party had been part of various governments over the last decade. “If the Baloch are suffering, then he should have spoken while being a part of government,” Bugti said.

Read More: Aitzaz moves SC against citizens going ‘missing’

“It is not appropriate to compare Palestine with Balochistan. We want to talk to them but don't make it a propaganda tool and use it for the election campaign,” the minister said. He urged debate in parliament on the missing persons issue, saying that it was interconnected with incidents of self-disappearances.

Earlier, speaking on the issue during the Senate session, Senator Raza Rabbani highlighted the protesters’ concerns, particularly regarding the chronic problem of missing persons and alleged death squads operating in Balochistan.

Rabbani stressed the need for swift action to put an end to such issues, suggesting that parliament should address the matter through legislation. In his speech, Bugti proposed that the legislation could be enacted within the next two to three months after elections to address these pressing concerns.

Read More: Enforced disappearances: Chief executives ‘may be tried under Article 6’

Reiterating the right to peaceful protest, the minister assured that the demonstrators, including experienced politicians and workers, would not face any form of mistreatment.

He also stressed the need for curbing activities of miscreants and insurgency in Balochistan.
(WITH INPUT FROM APP)