ISLAMABAD: Families and supporters offive missing activists on Wednesday denounced whatthey called a campaign to accuse the men of blasphemy, a highlycharged allegation that could endanger their lives were they toreappear.
The accusations, made online and in a complaint to police,have unsettled country's small community of social activists.
The families of two of the missing men, Salman Haider andWaqass Goraya, described them as part of a "malicious campaign".
"This campaign can only be meant to divert public sympathyaway from our plight and the plight of our loved ones, who havebeen illegally abducted," the two families said in a statementhanded out at a press conference in the capital, Islamabad.
Associates and supporters of all five men deny they haveblasphemed.The activists disappeared since Jan.4.
Interior Ministry has said it is seekinginformation and the Federal Investigation Agency says it has notarrested them.
Other state agencies and the country´s militarydeclined to comment.
Haider, a leftist writer and professor, disappeared in earlyJanuary as did bloggers Goraya, Aasim Saeed and AhmedRaza Naseer, as well as Samar Abbas, head of an anti-extremismactivist group in Karachi.
All were reported missing separately by their familieswithin a week of each other.In recent days, the missing activists have been accused ofblasphemy in online posts and by at least three televisioncommentators.
Haider Shah, of the Rationalist Society of Pakistan, saidthe blasphemy allegations endangered the activists.Even if they were freed without charge, they could be
targeted by extremists who believe violence is justified todefend Islam, he added.
"These people will be running from these allegations for therest of their lives," Shah said.