Malik M. Ashraf<\/p>\n
For the last more than two decades, the issue of missing persons has remained a topic of intense discussion. Human rights activists, relatives, and their families have been raising the accusing finger towards intelligence agencies. Some international and internal lobbies have also been using this narrative for anti-state diatribes with ostensible purpose to malign Pakistan. The courts also have been seized of the problem urging the government and agencies to resolve the issue.
\nThere has been no or little recognition of the significant progress made by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIOED) in regards to resolving the conundrum. The COIOED is a coordinating entity for all law enforcement and intelligence agencies focused on investigating the cases of missing persons, besides facilitating contacts with global organizations.
\nIt has also been alleged that the government and agencies are targeting the families and those who are agitating the issue of missing persons. Those propagating this narrative have been demanding the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission preferring the argument that it was the only solution to resolve the question of missing persons. It has also been propagated that the number of missing persons\/enforced disappearances in Pakistan is very high compared to other countries.
\nSince it is a sensitive and complicated issue it is imperative to unravel the phenomenon of missing person in its true perspective through an objective investigation. First of all there is a need to understand that the problem of missing persons is a global phenomenon and not specific to Pakistan only.
\nAmong the causes for people going missing researched at the international level are: people leaving their homes without any information over some family disputes severing contacts with family, people crossing borders for illegal economic migration, people dying in accidents bearing no identity, people vanishing to avoid clutches of law for their involvement in crimes as well as people voluntarily joining militant and terrorist entities wherever there are insurgencies or conflicts.
\nMost of the missing persons in Pakistan are those who voluntarily leave their homes to join militant and terrorist outfits. They are either killed in some terrorist activity or go incommunicado severing all links with the family, only to resurface later as either a casualty of a terrorist act or an accomplice in a crime enterprise unearthed by Law Enforcement Agencies.
\nMy investigations reveal that since 2010, the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has received 10,405 cases out of which 8144 have been resolved and 2261 are under investigation.
\nAccording to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28,000 Pakistanis are imprisoned abroad about whom their families are not aware of. Welfare Organizations like Edhi and Chhipa have buried over 35,000 unidentified bodies since 2005. Some people also have disappeared to evade law enforcement due to criminal activities. Some have disappeared for personal or professional reasons without maintaining contact with the families.
\nSecurity forces acknowledge custody of 1,292 individuals arrested on charges of terrorism, espionage, or criminal activities, with 925 detained in internment centers and 367 undergoing rehabilitation in de-radicalization centers, with all cases conducted in a transparent manner and processed under the law. It adequately refutes the myth that the law enforcing agencies abduct individuals without declaring custody. Further the detainees in internment and rehabilitation centers are granted full legal rights, including family visits and access to legal representation. The punishments are handed down through due judicial process which refutes the myth that individuals in custody are denied basic rights.
\nThe officially registered cases in Balochistan are 2911 out of which 2459 cases have been resolved and the rest 452 cases are under investigation. Analysis of resolved cases of Balochistan reveals that 2,049 individuals have returned home, 2 declared interned, 26 found in jails, 47 confirmed deceased, 277 cases not categorized as enforced disappearances and 58 Petitions have been dismissed. Out of the 5,006 cases submitted by Akhtar Mengal to the Balochistan government, 1,208 were validated, 1,153 were traced. Out of these 1,038 individuals returned home, meanwhile, 3,798 cases have remained unverified.
\nThe reality is that Baloch claims of genocide are based on fabricated narratives. For instance, Dr. Mahrang Baloch has acknowledged that families of individuals killed in anti-terror strikes in Iran were included in the list of missing persons.
\nThe activists like Mama Qadeer, Nasrullah Baloch, Amina Masood Janjua, Manzoor Pashteen, Imaan Mazari, and Mohsin Dawar continue to raise their point of view without facing intimidation and have been granted meetings with senior officials, including the prime minister and cabinet ministers demonstrating the government\u2019s commitment to addressing their genuine concerns.
\nThe issue of missing persons especially in Balochistan is being used to whip up public hatred against the Law Enforcement Agencies at the behest of hostile intelligence agencies such as RAW. A narrative of alienation of Baloch people from the Pakistani state is being sedulously nurtured using activists like Mahrung Baloch whose father Abdul Ghafoor Lango was an alleged BLA militant.
\nThe revelations made my Maulvi Mansoor head of the defence and financial affairs of TTP who was arrested in Balochistan in July unequivocally stated that TTP was being funded by RAW and its cooperation with BLA to sabotage CPEC also came about at its behest. According to him many of the missing persons were roaming around in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at ashpak10@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Malik M. Ashraf For the last more than two decades, the issue of missing persons has remained a topic of intense discussion. Human rights activists, relatives, and their families have been raising the accusing finger towards intelligence agencies. Some international and internal lobbies have also been using this narrative for anti-state diatribes with ostensible purpose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3489],"class_list":{"0":"post-449203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-article","7":"tag-malik-m-ashraf"},"yoast_head":"\n