QUETTA: The head of a judicial commission formed by the government to investigate the festering issue of enforced disappearances has concluded that foreign spy agencies are stoking unrest in Balochistan.
“Foreign intelligence agencies want to worsen the Balochistan situation in order to destabilise Pakistan,” Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, the head of the judicial commission, told a news conference at the Civil Secretariat in Quetta on Saturday.
“There is concrete evidence of their involvement,” he added.
Justice Iqbal admitted that no state institution has precise statistics on missing persons. “There is a baseless propaganda about the number of missing persons,” he said and put the number at 460.
“As many as 44 people were recovered over the past three months through the commission’s efforts,” he said.
At the same time, Justice Iqbal regretted that the authorities have not been able to compile details of those listed as missing.
According to the break-up, 18 missing persons are listed missing from Islamabad, 117 from Punjab, 174 from Sindh, 170 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 57 from Balochistan and 12 each from Azad Kashmir and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
The bodies of 42 missing persons were found in Balochistan, Justice Iqbal said and added that in the past week alone, 12 missing persons were recovered from the province.
Some of the missing persons were in Afghanistan which, needless to say is beyond the control of the Pakistani government.
The list of missing persons compiled by the commission also contains the names of those living abroad and those involved in terrorism-related cases, according to Justice Iqbal.
He did not appear to be dissatisfied with the help received from the provincial government.
The chief minister had sent to the panel a list of 945 missing persons but without their particulars, he said. “We sent the list back to the (home) ministry for correction but it never came back.”
Regarding the next step, Justice Iqbal said, “We have been doing our job in Islamabad. We will soon visit interior Balochistan, including Gwadar, Turbat and Khuzdar. No person will be declared missing until or unless his/her relatives turn up and show their identity cards or driving licences.”
The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VFBMP), an organisation striving for the safe recovery of missing persons in Balochistan, has stated that the commission is not sincere in recovering abducted people in the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2012.
COMMENTS (31)
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@JP: It will never happen Insha Allah. Azad Balochistan is like day dreaming.
@iftikhar hussain:
You are right.. There might be some foreign hand.. and infact some very strong foreign hands.. The interest of the world lies in a Free Balochistan. A free balochistan gives unhindered access to Afghanistan for the US troops. Free Baloch also allow india to check the China influence in event of a war through the gwadar port. Iran wants free baloch as it also allows huge market of its natural gas in India passing though balochistan. Even landlocked Afghanistan wants free Balochistan to be able to get a sea port for selling its huge mineral resources. Israel would also like a free balochistan for obvious reasons. To make the things worst for pakistan, Baloch themselves want independence bcoz of thier exploitation by pakistan over the years.. with some many powerful parties interested in Balochistan's independance, its just a matter of time(max 5 years) before Balochistan is a independant country.
@Ohplease: As u c in post above, in Balochistan, its foreign hand. A common Baloch is not interested in the fuss created by them so no question of snubbing any one
@Pakistani: You said @Baloch:You have Antarctica. Make an Azad Balochistan there.
This is what we want to say to people of Kashmir Valley i. e. Go to Antartica and Make an Azad Kashmir there. Let us come togather and send Balochs and Kashmiris to Antarctica.
@Shohaz Baloch: Then Indians should also say that RAW is working for ISI!!
Same things happens on indians side. They also dont get enough evidence against ISI
Now stop blaming Pak to get worl'd attention by saying missing thousands
When will we expose foreign spy elements? We are sick of listening to these jargons & not a single culprit has so far been produced before public or at least on TV with incontrovertible/ irrefutable evidence.Do it......
@aladeen: These same Indian trolls jammed "YouTube" videos for 2010 Pak Floods with responses including cursing Pakistan & asking for stopping all humanitarian aid for Pakistan" all while posing as Americans & Europeans and so to some extant sabotaged & reduced most humanitarian efforts for Pakistani flood victims. That's where they are using their Internet kno-how and English language these days. If it weren't for ET you could have seen more.
Is it not a matter of concern that how and with what kind of resources the foreign spy agencies can abduct the Baloch youths in presence of Pakistani law enforcement forces and other agencies at every corner of cities like Quetta, Turbat etc, using the vehicles of FC accompanying with the present FC and agencies officials before eye witnesses from streets and markets in day light. ? Can we say that the FC and other Pakistani secret agencies who are directly involved in missing person's cases are working on payroll of foreign spy agencies. ?????????/ Just think.
@Baloch: Muslims are already divided plz dont further divide this will weaken ur strength
It is always somebody elese not us. Even the presence of OBL in our army base for better part of a decade was not our fault. We need more of ISI and army to keep terrorists out of their bases and Balochistan. Looks like foreign agents are safer in Balochistan compared to our own citizens. Yet our army and ISI are the most efficient in the world. Let us expand them even more.
@Baloch: You are day dreaming we the Pushtoons are majority in Balochistan and 100% Pushtoon and 95% Patriot Baloch love Pakistan only few indian and jew agents wants Azaad Balochistan which is impossible
Why Media not comes up with the fact and publish Missing persons in Baluchistan [ Majority] left for BLA, BRA on their own but their parents are not aware of their sons , where they went missing
@ARK: Exactly. He was absolutely correct in saying that there are only a handful of such creeps who take money and weapons from the foreign agencies and kill their countrymen. The true Balochistan people are a combination of multi ethnic creed of people. The rest (extremists) need to be dealt with power
So shameful faceless statement! It means foreign spies more skilled than local ones!! I think this is shamefully true about Pakistan. That's the reason Pakistan secret services denied presense of Osama bin laden. But what happened? Foreign spies dugged him out and near the capital and near the army head quartes of Pakistan! What's the mistake of common citizen of Pakistan? Why innocents die every day? It shows only one thing that if it is foreign spies work then local spies are with them. So easy!
@Baloch
You have Antarctica. Make an Azad Balochistan there.
Only the naive think that foreign intelligence cannot be involved when we already know to some degree the extensive nature of the CIA/JSOC network in Pakistan thanks to OBL raid and wikileaks.
There is much more hidden beneath the surface that is not revealed and since Pakistan is not a police state and has very lose law and order control (our own fault), the ISI or MI cannot spy on every citizen.
We simply cannot say that 'Balochistan leave Pakistan' try to solve the problem instead of generating the new problem.
Good. Everyone is now realizing what Muhasrraf has been been saying.
i wish this is the first step in convincing the common baluch that it is the BLA,BLF and other foreign hands that are responsible for the unrest in the province. sardars want status quo as any development reduces their influence on a common man. Pakistan Paindabad.
A very shameful statement
@baloch...sorrry u got so much problems leave pakistan..
Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal is one of the most respected person in judiciary and i will his words as fact...........
@Baloch: i think you should stop ur propaganda and stop killing innocent citizens
@pakistanibaloch:
You forget that Balochistan has been always where it is now, for the past TEN thousand years or more, settled by the same people. It is Pakistan that is a recent and artificial entity. Maybe it should move to Saudi Arabia, where it really wants to be anyhow!
@Baloch: go from pakistan and make ur own balochistan in india or america.......
Azaad Balochistan. Stop your fake propagandas!
So finally it came out as suspected. But u will c how our sold media will try to reject the investigations made by the commission. They did the same in ex Rinkle Kumari case. We saw a series of programs on this issue but when the girls themselves said that they became muslims by themselves, our media didnt project it the way the issue was initially took up and no program was aired in the actual favor of girls