On 9th May, Pakistan witnessed massive protests and rioting against the armed forces for their alleged role in Imran Khan’s brief abduction from a court hearing. The present situation also marks the first time where the Pakistani citizens at large were convinced about the role of the establishment in facilitating elections and abduction of political workers and dissidents. Besides the arrest of senior leadership of Khan’s party, some journalists were abducted of which one of them has been missing for some days now .
An already well established trend in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the people of Punjab have gradually come to terms with this reality.
Enforced disappearances is a matter of serious concern in Pakistan today. On the one hand, the missing persons suffer both physical and mental torture in state torture cells and internment centers. Then there are cases in which people have been missing for several years; at times more than ten to twelve years and even fifteen years. The Commission on Missing Persons, which was established amidst great promises has not been able to meet expectations of thousands of families awaiting the return of their beloved.
In this articles, I am highlighting the case of an Abdul Razaq, Matiullah and one seventh-grade student Mahibur Rahman who remain missing since 2009. On July 19, 2009, Mutiullah, son of Sher Ali Khan was arrested by the police from his house and Abdul Raziq son of Ali Muhammad from his shop and handed over to the army.
In this way, the student of 7th class Mahibur Rahman, son of Nasim Ahmed, was arrested by the army on July 4, 2009 after getting off the school van in Peshawar. Since 2009, no government organization has shared any information with the families of the missing persons, nor have the families of the missing persons been contacted. On the contrary, both civilian and military organizations are completely denying the disappearance of these persons and their presence in the custody of the armed forces. While the fact is that in 2009 renowned international media institution CNN ran a report on a detention center set up by the state armed forces in Lower Dir where 80 people were kept. In this video, it can be clearly seen and confirmed by the author that the arrested student from Peshawar, Maheeb Rahman, along with Matiullah and Abdul Razzaq are in the detention center and are in the custody of the state institutions. Unfortunately, no information is being given to the families of the people languishing in these detention centers. A former spokesperson of the Pakistan Armed Forces has repeatedly said that not every missing person can be linked to the armed forces. But on the contrary, the persons under the custody of the armed forces and in the detention centers are not being produced in any court nor are their families being provided any information regarding these persons. If we look at the public and other cases in the CNN report, it is proved that the state and these armed forces are working hypocritically. It has been almost 15 years since Matiullah, Abdul Razzaq and Maheeb Rehman went missing and their families are suffering from severe psychological issues. Having missed loved ones missing for 15 years and not having any information about their whereabouts till now is a collective punishment for the entire family. The families of Matiullah and Abdul Raziq say that our loved ones have not committed any crime, and if there was some concern that should have been communicated with them They did have a dispute over land and at the behest of their opponents, these members were arrested and disappeared. This is akin to the early years of American invasion of Afghanistan where the foreign forces arbitrarily arrested many people on complaints made the former’s local allies over personal feuds.
The family of these men have all the evidence to prove their innocence but they are yet to be heard by the judiciary or the police.There are thousands of missing persons in similar cases. The families of the missing persons have been protesting for several years, but the families of these missing persons are not being heard by any government institution. There is a rising fear that with the resurgence of the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa may witness arbitrary detentions and missing persons once again.
The missing persons have not been brought before any court which begs the question whether state does not have confidence in the courts ? Are the state institutions above the constitution of the country? Which institution should be held accountable?