NA body on HR summons IGs, home secretaries on missing persons’ issue

ISLAMABAD: Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Human Rights Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has summoned the Inspector Generals of Police of all the four provinces, provincial home secretaries and secretary Ministry of Interior in the next meeting of the committee on the matter of missing persons.

The meeting was chaired by Chairman of the Committee Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The agenda of the meeting was to deliberate on the bill about women harassment at work place, bill for senior citizens, amendment in judicial system for juvenile punishment, child protection within federal capital, schemes for human rights and their budget and providing funds to prisoner women.

Chairman of the committee also raised several questions about the role of the human rights commission of the Ministry of Human Rights. Bilawal asked that what actions against abductors are taken when the missing persons are recovered. The officials of Human Rights Ministry said that the recovered people are so much deranged after recovery that they do not tell anything. Bilawal instructed to inform about this in writing to the Balochistan government. The ministry failed to give correct numbers of missing people in Balochistan on which the members of the standing committee said that over 5000 people are missing from Balochistan and the report of Balochistan government is concocted.

The members of the Committee from Balochistan said even women and political workers have been abducted from Balochistan. The members said that girl students of Bolan Medical College in Balochistan were harassed when they demanded their rights.

The committee members said that Justice Javed Iqbal had even said that there is no one missing in Balochistan which was totally incorrect. Member of the committee, Mohsin Dawar said that data of 2000 people has been lost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). He said that the task force about missing persons includes those institutions which are involved in the issue of missing persons.

Bilawal said that the government of Punjab and KP did not provide any data in this regard. He said that the issue of missing persons is a national issue and no one should do politics on this issue. Mohsin Dawar suggested that IGs of provinces be summoned before the committee.

Bilawal instructed to summon IGs, Interior secretaries and other officials of the four provinces in the next meeting. Bilawal asked about the absence of minister for human rights from the meeting and he was informed that the Minister Shireen Mazari is out of country. He asked the officials of the ministry about the actions on the recommendation given by the committee to the foreign office.

The officials of foreign ministry informed about the several measures in this regard but Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the foreign office has not yet submitted the report about it.

Bilawal said that government's measures are being criticised on the Kashmir issue because the government did not take the measures which were to be taken. “We failed to put pressure on India about the international reports about violation of human rights in Kashmir,” the chairman said. He asked for efforts to provide medicine and food to the Kashmiris.

Bilawal said that it is being discussed that after Prime Minister Imran Khan's speech in the United Nations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took extreme step. “We must not become overjoyed by the comments of US President Trump regarding Kashmir. One can ask Palestinians about the result of President Trump comments about Palestine,” he said.