Relatives of missing persons from Sindh stage protest in front of National Press Club

ISLAMABAD, Jan 12 (SABAH): Relatives of missing persons staged a protest in front of the National Press Club (NPC) on Thursday. A number of people took part in the protest to express solidarity with the family members, waiting for their safe return back to their homes.

The protestors were chanting slogans in Sindhi language in favour of missing persons’ release. They were demanding the State to early release the disappeared persons from Sindh, Punjab, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Protestors reiterated their resolve to not bow down before the State’s cruelty on the matter.

Human rights activist Dr. Farzana Bari, who also visited the protestors, said the series of disappearances has been continuing since long and added if the situation remains as it is it may prove detrimental to the national security. She said the people were forced to stand in queues for buying flour and suicide incidents were occurring in the country in wake of faulty polices of the rulers.

She furthered since last 70 years, State was trying to silence the voice of the voiceless masses, predicting it will no longer be able to suppress it. She also raised slogans along with the protestors.

Talking to “SABAH”, Chairperson Defence of Human Rights Pakistan Amina Masood Janjua said that over 5,000 to 6,000 people were picked up only from Sindh whose release was still awaited. This issue, she said, began in General (retd) Pervaiz Musharraf’s stint and was still continuing. Our campaign has been continuing since 2005, she added. 

She further said that two persons named Abdullah and Muhammad Rasool who were basically laborers were picked up during January 2022 from Islamabad and their dead bodies were found in Miran Shah on December 10.

Heirs of those who were killed told that first information reports (FIRs) were registered in the relevant police stations but it proved to be a futile effort. Later their bodies were found in Miran Shah, thanking a private TV channel for reporting this incident.