Sit-in: Families protest over missing relatives

Govt rebuked over possible manhandling of abducted persons.

ISLAMABAD:

Families of missing persons staged a sit-in at D-Chowk on Monday, demanding the government to disclose the whereabouts of their loved ones. The sit-in was organised by Defence of Human Rights Chairperson Amina Masood Janua, whose husband has been missing since 2005. Banners and placards were held aloft in support of their demands and sorrow.

The trend of missing persons arose primarily after 9/11 with people allegedly being kidnapped on charges of terrorism and extremist. “More people have disappeared in the present democratic government than the dictatorship before it,” Janua stated adding that though over 400 missing persons rejoined their families during the last six years, with the intervention of the Supreme Court, a larger number remain unaccounted for. She criticized political parties for failing to introduce effective legislation blocking the trend of abductions without informing families of their whereabouts. “I don’t understand why politicians are reluctant to bring a parliamentary bill to get rid of this menace,” she remarked adding that though the Supreme Court is trying, there is no headway due to a lack of support by concerned authorities.

The sister and mother of Muhammad Jamil, a 28-year-old man who went missing on January 18, were also among the protestors. Jamil’s sister stated that he was a plumber by profession who had been abducted by plain-clothed policemen outside his Rawalpindi residence. They have since not heard from him and lodged an FIR in a Rawalpindi police station but no progress has been made to determine his whereabouts.

The father of Shahid Mehmood, a 15-year-old boy from Attock, said that his son was allegedly abducted by two Jihadi evangelists from a nearby mosque. He believes his son may have been sent for jihad or sold to an unknown third party.

“If they are guilty of any crime, they should be openly tried in court rather than keeping them in unknown places,” Janua stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2011.