Pasban unaware of whereabouts of Usman Moazzam, sons

The leader and his younger son were allegedly picked up by Rangers, while his elder son is missing from June 11

KARACHI: Leaders of Pasban-e-Pakistan said on Saturday that the party is still unaware of the whereabouts of the party’s general secretary, Usman Moazzam, and his two sons.

Moazzam and his younger son were picked up by the Rangers on July 19 during a raid on his house, while his elder son went missing from Federal B Area on June 11.

“We don’t know anything,” said Pasban president Altaf Shakoor. “We are not even sure if Moazzam is still alive.” He added that Pasban is a patriotic party and the Rangers should not have raided Moazzam’s place like this as he is public figure. He also accused the Rangers officials of misbehaving with the females at Moazzam’s house.

According to Shakoor, Moazzam’s wife was not allowed to file an FIR by the Samanabad SHO as it was against the Rangers. “The police have said that our application will be registered only when we seek permission from the Sindh IG,” he said.



Pasban’s media coordinator, Mehmood Tajik, said that the party tried to contact Sindh Rangers DG for a meeting but they have been asked to wait for a couple of days. Party leaders Tariq Jamil, Jawad Shirazi and Abdul Hakeem visited the Ranger’s headquarters to meet the Rangers DG on Friday.

Tajik added that the party is also trying to meet the Sindh Corps Commander to inform him about the situation. Moazzam’s wife also wrote a letter to the Sindh IG, he added.

Showing solidarity with Pasban, other political parties, including Sunni Tehreek and Tehreek-e-Insaf demanded the release of Moazzam and his sons. In a statement, the Muttahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) legal aid committee president Mehfooz Yar Khan said that MQM is against the arrest of anyone without proper reason. He added that according to the law, the law enforcers should hand over any proof against a party member to the leaders and only intervene if the party heads do not take any action against the accused.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2015.