ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) was Wednesday informed that 22 out of over 50 missing Baloch students had been recovered.
The Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), representing the Federation, assured that the remaining 28 students would be recovered soon and efforts will also be made to recover all the missing persons.
AGP Mansoor Usman Awan stated this before a single bench of IHC comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani during the hearing of a case regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances.
Previously, the court had directed Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Defence Minister and others to appear in person before the court if they do not secure the recovery of more than 50 allegedly missing Baloch students.
However, the prime minister did not attend the hearing and interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti, Human Rights Minister Khalil George, and the families of the missing Baloch youth were present in the court.
During the hearing, the AGP informed the bench that 22 allegedly missing Baloch students had been recovered while the whereabouts of 28 others were still not known. He said that the interim premier could not appear before the court as he was on an official visit abroad.
Awan said that 22 Baloch students had been recovered and sent back home while 28 were still missing. He added, “I assure the court that we will make every possible effort to ensure the recovery of all these persons.”
Justice Kayani remarked that it was a matter of fundamental rights and that things were being done in the country without any fear of consequences. He asked the interior minister whether he had seen the commission’s report, to which, the minister replied in the affirmative.
The judge observed that all the missing persons in question were students. “These are our people, and the entire blame is being laid on security agencies,” he remarked. He asked the minister to confirm whether any other foreign agency was involved in the act.
The IHC bench said that people disappear here, and the administration turns its eyes away from the issue after taking a single action under Section 365 (of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with kidnapping). He asked will we realise the gravity of the matter only when we ourselves go missing.
He mentioned that it was the responsibility of the government under Article 4 of the Constitution to recover the missing persons.
The article states that the right of individuals should be dealt with in accordance with the law. Justice Kayani said that a first information report was filed but the same was followed by “silence”. He added, “Whenever such questions are raised at an international level, we find ourselves lacking answers.”
Interior Minister Bugti asserted before the bench that there was no justification for the disappearance of any individual who had gone missing and assured the court, “We will fulfil our responsibility.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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