Balochistan unrest: Judicial panel faults foreign spy agencies
In all, 460 people are missing across the country with Sindh at the top with 174
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.
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.