Activists launch signature campaign to recover missing persons

With a camp erected outside the Karachi Press Club on Thursday, activists under the banner of ‘End All Disappearences’ - who had vowed to continue their struggle after the return of four bloggers to their homes - invited all to sign a petition to highlight the issue of enforced disappearances.

The petition, addressed to state authorities and the United Nations, did not only talk about missing persons but also addressed the issue of a crackdown against dissent as well as detentions of many political activists. 

As people signed the petition, the family of Iqbal Kazmi, who was allegedly picked up by law enforcement agencies 22 days ago, joined the camp to raise voice.

“As we have told earlier, our plight was never limited to those four bloggers who had gone missing; rather, it addressed all those who have been abducted by state authorities. However, it is disheartening to see that ever since the return of those bloggers, about whom no one is talking about, media and activists have coolly parted ways with the cause,” said Khurram Ali of the Awami Jamhoori Mahaz.

“It seems that even in this issue, class breach is visible because individuals who have a name are being discussed while thousands of nameless missing persons are still lying in wait to get some attention,” he added.

“As long as the abducted persons do not discuss CPEC, or have not been associated with Baloch or Sindhi or Muhajir nationalism, raising voice for them is deemed acceptable. The primary motive of our today’s camp is to show that we will not wait for someone famous to go missing to speak up; rather, it’s time to make collaborative efforts to recover all those who have been picked up,” he stressed.

Moneeza Ahmad, an activist, said the issue was extremely important for citizens because 2016 saw a lot of such cases in Sindh and Balochistan: “Making people disappear does not make Pakistan any safer.”

Another activist, Husna Ali, felt that abductions were becoming a tradition and it was high time to break this. “Be it a political worker, a minority representative or a civil society worker, no one has the right to abduct and deprive them of a fair trial. Their families who have no one to go to keep coming to the KPC, hoping that someone would listen to their pleas. We also demand of the authorities to curb smear campaigns which are launched against those who are picked up.”