‘Enforced disappearances violation of Constitution’

KARACHI: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday said that only Imran Khan knows who is Mr X and Y, adding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman should have courage and name them.

Talking to media persons after a meeting with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQMP) leaders, the interior minister said enforced disappearances of citizens are a violation of the Constitution of Pakistan and the current government is trying to solve this problem at the earliest.

The return of terrorist groups to the valley of Swat is just a rumour as security agencies are on high alert there, he said. The interior minister, along with federal minister Ayaz Sadiq, visited the MQMP office in Bahadurabad and met the party leadership and families of missing persons.

MQMP Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui received the federal government delegation. In the meeting, Siddiqui informed the delegation that he was unable to explain the situation after seeing the bodies of three MQMP workers who had been missing for years.

“It was not possible for the party to satisfy the families of slain workers. Therefore we invited the families of missing workers to share their pain with the interior minister. “The minister should answer the questions being raised by the families of missing workers,” the MQMP leader said.

While talking to the families, the interior minister said that he understands the pain of these mothers and sisters. “I myself have gone through this situation. Enforced disappearance is the biggest crime and those who do this are the enemies of the Constitution and law. It is the responsibility of federal and provincial governments to trace the missing persons and present them in courts.”

He said that the country is in debt to all the families whose beloved ones have gone missing and they are still standing with the country even after this suffering. “We assure the families of missing persons that their patience will not be in vain.”

On the occasion, dozens of families narrated the stories of their suffering and appealed to the interior minister to recover their missing family members. Talking to the families, Rana Sana assured his support and said that he would bring all resources to do justice. He said that the grief of missing families is more painful than death but all these families have patiently recorded their protests.

“We have always opposed violence, torture, and disappearance. We will sincerely make efforts to recover the missing people and there will be an effective and positive progress in the coming days in this regard.

“We hope the MQMP leadership and those who have been going through this situation will keep their trust in us.” Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said: “We live in a country where people go missing but it is not considered a crime. We just want the safe return of our loved ones.

“Our workers went missing in 1999 and 2000 and later their bodies were found. We do not want the families of missing workers to suffer the same way again. The MQMP workers are not terrorists. If we committed any crime, they should be punished as much as they deserve,” he added.

On the occasion, Siddiqui also presented a list of missing persons to the interior minister and said that these were his missing workers, who had been missing for a long time. “In the agreement we made, the first demand was the recovery of missing persons.”

Responding to a question, the interior minister said that the issue of missing persons is bringing a bad name to Pakistan. “It’s not a face-saving but this is the problem of the entire nation. We are sincerely trying to recover the missing persons,” he told the families of missing persons.

On the occasion, the interior minister said that he and Ayaz Sadiq visited the MQMP office on the instructions of the prime minister to meet the families of missing persons. Siddiqui had a meeting with Shehbaz Sharif and many measures were agreed upon and many aspects were decided to be implemented, he added.