Sindh Sabha stages protest against forced disappearances

SUKKUR: The Sindh Sabha held a protest in Sukkur on Tuesday against forced disappearances of Sindhi and Seraiki nationalists and announced to organise a long-march from Karachi to Rawalpindi to highlight the issue.

The protesters and family members of the ‘forcefully-disappeared’ persons demanded release of their loved ones or to bring them in the courts of law, if they were wanted in any case. Addressing the protest rally at the Sukkur Press Club, the representatives of protesters said it was the prime responsibility of the state to protect its citizens and safeguard their fundamental rights.

The leader of the Saraikistan Movement, Rashid Aziz, said for the last 42 days, they were on the roads with their genuine demands to release disappeared persons. He said they were leaving for Karachi to organise a long-march from Karachi to Rawalpindi to let people know the pain of family members of the missing persons.

Meanwhile, the vice-president of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Lala Asad Pathan said forced disappearances are unconstitutional and sheer crime, as no institution has the legal authority to bypass the Constitution and to establish its own judicial system.