By Ch. Muhammad Natiq
Theme: A well-coordinated propaganda campaign using student organizations and human rights activists with respect to missing persons is being propagated by Sub Nationalists & Hostile Intelligence Agencies to systematically manipulate the youth and defame Pakistan in the international arena.
Recently, the issue of missing persons is being increasingly highlighted/exploited by Sub-nationalists, Human Right Organizations and dissident elements to malign Armed Forces / Intelligence agencies. The issue of missing persons is being used as an effective tool of Hybrid Warfare, initiated by India and abetted by international and social media, to embarrass Pakistan and malign its Armed Forces in order to generate despondency among the masses. The antagonist elements are continuously trying to target the minds of the youth/ population of KPK and Balochistan to further disrupt the situation under the label of “missing persons”.
Misperceptions created with respect to the so-called missing persons are not grounded in legality and reality. Articles 9 and 10 of the Constitution of Pakistan guarantee that ‘no person can be deprived of his liberty or freedom without due process of law’. Why would any state institution like to keep people in a dungeon when the law, under Maintenance of Public Order, permits putting someone indulging in disturbing the public order behind the bars for 90 days?
In its sustained effort, GoP formalized the “Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CoIoED)” constituted by MoI on directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 1 Mar 2011, headed by Justice Javed Iqbal, to look carefully into the matter of missing persons and develop a database of every single person and update the list on monthly basis.
Moreover, GoP has been actively looking into every single matter of missing persons. It has also introduced a new section (52B) of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2021 passed by NA on 8 November 2021, for criminalizing “enforced disappearance” in Pakistan as it was a long-standing demand of human rights bodies, especially Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
With deliberate and sustained efforts, the latest stats issued on 30th Apr 2022 by CoIoED show that since March 2011, 6408 out of a total 8539 (over 70%) cases of missing persons have been disposed of which 4631 (over 50%) cases are of those who returned back home or were not actual cases of disappearances.
Missing person cases in Balochistan.
A claim of thousands of missing Baloch by the HR movements / liberal intelligentsia is political propaganda as there is no tangible data (credible evidence supported by ground realities) which supports their concocted assertions.
This whole mayhem of Baloch Missing Persons is being highlighted by BSO which is working in the hands of hostile agencies and BRA. In the revelations by EU Disinfo Lab on Indian Chronicles, the name of BSO was also mentioned for its fake campaigns and dubious accreditations. Abram Baloch is the current Chairman of the BSO-Azad who has kept his identity anonymous.
Abram Baloch has been radicalizing the youth of Balochistan with a combination of misleading propaganda, fake news, leftist beliefs & links to terrorism. All these subversive elements want is to radicalize the youth of Balochistan by manipulating their emotions.
The current propaganda campaign has used student organizations as a propaganda tool to create a wedge between the youth and the security forces/ Law Enforcement Agencies.
The myth of enforced disappearances has been busted by the fact that most of the ‘so-called missing persons’ have either gone into hiding to provide fodder to anti-Pakistan propaganda with respect to enforced disappearance or have left their homes to join terrorist organizations including Afghanistan based TTP, Al Qaeda, ISIS / ISKP and Fatemiyoun / Zainabiyoun brigades in Syria as foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs).
From some areas in Balochistan; some miscreants have also taken refuge in Afghanistan or elsewhere in Europe. Making hue and cry is often intended to seek asylum in any rich capital to be followed by the citizenship of that country.
On several occasions, after a terrorist attack, the perpetrators were found to be present on the list of missing persons. A case in point is the attack on PC Hotel Gwadar by BLA wherein Hamal Fateh, son of Qadir Khan Marri, was identified among the dead bodies of terrorists but had been previously shown as a ‘missing person’ on BLA’s website.
Due to tribal feuds in Balochistan, several people go into hiding; such instances are also used to propagate the faulty argument regarding enforced disappearances in Pakistan. Another prominent figure Mama Qadeer who is also the chairperson of Voice of Balochistan’s missing persons is creating anarchy and despondency within the state. He has also openly shown support to Indian PM Modi and in a way, pledged allegiance to Pakistan’s greatest rival, India. (GVS, 3 July 2020)
Mama Qadeer has used women like Farzana Majeed who was the first woman, recognized by Mama Qadeer as the voice for women in the narrative of missing persons’ cases in Pakistan to show the soft power of its propaganda campaign. He has been exploiting Baloch women to propagate his anti-state agenda. Sub-nationalist groups like BLA use women for their nefarious purposes to gain the attention of an international audience and Human Right Organizations.
For instance, Shari Baloch was used in the recent attack on Karachi University. Moreover, Karima Baloch was also used for anti-state activities until she was neutralized by the same anti-state elements after her name was exposed in the EU Disinfo Lab’s Chronicles for being working in the hands of RAW to disseminate disinformation against Pakistan and its state organizations.
On 16 May in Turbat Balochistan, CTD carried out an intelligence-based operation and arrested a woman named Noor Jahan. Liberals and HR activists started to highlight this incident as an alleged case of enforced disappearance. They ran an SM campaign with the hashtag #SaveBalochWomen and also staged protests on the Turbat-Hoshab highway.
However, the investigation into the matter revealed that the woman arrested from Turbat was a handler of suicide bombers for a Baloch terrorist organization. She was also involved in the suicide attack at Karachi University carried out by Shari Baloch against Chinese nationals. The Baloch sub nationalists who resort to such heinous acts are misleading the innocent people and the international community through false propaganda of enforced disappearances.
As per the facts of CoIoED, since March 2011, out of a total of 1790 cases in Balochistan 1448 (over 78 %) have been disposed of, of which 1213 individuals have returned home and 186 cases were deleted. It shows that the number of missing persons in Balochistan has been exaggerated by Leftists and Liberals.
Such propaganda campaign is unleashed to tarnish the image of security agencies domestically and internationally while disrupting the CPEC and other socio-economic development programs in Balochistan. The decline in militancy/lawlessness as a result of SFs efforts/sacrifices has created conditions for the restoration of peace and order necessary for materializing the Khushal Balochistan.
Missing person cases in KPK.
The issue of missing persons is also being manipulated and exaggerated by sub-nationalist leaders like Manzoor Pashteen and Ali Wazir in KPK. They falsely claim that around 32,000 Pashtuns have gone missing from FATA, however, the CoIoED debunks such false claims with its detailed stats. According to the latest stats published on 30 April 2022; since Mar 2011 out of 3260 cases in KPK 1412 cases (over 45 %) have been disposed of which 549 have returned to the home and 332 cases were deleted.
Therefore, the claims of SNs like Manzoor Pashteen, who plays an ethnic card to forward the PTM narrative of anti-state and anti-army, is nothing but based on propaganda and exaggeration of the phenomenon. In one of the fake cases of missing persons, the activists Amina Masood Janjua voluntarily registered the case of Osama Khalid s/o Khalid Haider (CoIoED ID 6904-A) who as per his wife was apprehended by Pakistani agencies at Chaman Border on 25 September 2019 while they were returning from Afghanistan.
The case remained under investigation at ColoED for approx 10 Months. On 7 September 21, the wife of Osama Khalid appeared in ColoED and stated that Khalid Haider has contacted her over the telephone from Afghanistan and informed her that he has remained in the custody of the American Army at Bagram Jail. He was released from jail after the Afghan Taliban took over the government.
If the situation had been as bad as portrayed by international media / PTM / BSNs (Baloch sub-nationalists), the number of reported cases to the commission would have been higher. As it turns out, the issue of enforced disappearances in Pakistan has been exaggerated by the so-called liberal class to secure funding from their foreign masters.
Such propaganda campaign is unleashed to tarnish the image of security agencies domestically and intl while disrupting the CPEC and other socio-economic development programs in Balochistan and tribal districts of KPK. The decline in militancy/lawlessness, in the tribal areas of KPK and Balochistan, as a result of SFs efforts/sacrifices has created conditions for the restoration of peace.
False Cases of Missing Persons.
There are Several bogus/ disposed-off of missing persons highlighted by SNs/ Leftists to malign LEAs. The cases are as under:-
The case of Noor Ahmed Khan s/o Amir Khan (CoIoED ID 5832-A) was registered by his father who alleged that Noor Ahmed was apprehended by Intelligence Agencies while he was travelling from Tarar Khal to Hajeera, AJ&K on 27 Jul 2016.
The case remained under investigation at ColoED for approx. 5 years. During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that Noor Ahmed had earlier gone to Afghanistan in 2011 due to domestic issues within the family. Although he had a government job in Afghanistan, he returned in early 2016 to re-join his family. On 24 April 21, the father of the missing person appeared in ColoED and stated on oath that he has established contact with Noor Ahmed in Afghanistan on 21 January 2021.
Muhammad Aslam father of Qaiser Aslam (CoIoED ID 8187-A) alleged that Qaiser Aslam was apprehended by unknown individuals riding in 2 x vehicles from Chaksawari, AJ&K on 21 September 2017. He also stated that his son left with Rs 800,000/- and never came back. During a ground check by intelligence intelligencies, it was revealed that the missing person proceeded to Jamaica on 22 Sep 2017 from Sialkot Airport.
Abdul Sattar registered the case of his son Ashfaq Ahmed (CoIoED ID 6569-K) on 8 February 2020 alleging that Ashfaq Ahmed was apprehended by unknown individuals from link Rd, Bxu Township on 7 Mar 2018. The case remained under investigation at ColoED for approx. 18 months. During JIT, the father of the missing person stated that Ashfaq Ahmed was mentally disturbed and was on medications.
On 11 Oct 21, the father of the missing person appeared in ColoED and stated that his son has gone abroad (probably to Greece from Muscat). The Father of the missing person has been asked to submit his statement on the Affidavit. Another case of the missing person was of Umer Munir (CoIoED ID 6587-P) registered by his father on 19 February 2020 who alleged that Umar was apprehended by unknown individuals from Rawalpindi on 5 December 2019.
The case remained under investigation at ColoED for approximately one year after which it was revealed that the individual had a dispute within the family. On 29 January 2021, the missing person himself appeared in ColoED and stated that he went to Karachi to avoid confrontation with the family. He has now returned home to settle the matter.
Another case was registered by HR activist Amina Masood regarding the enforced disappearance of Aftab Ahmed. Aftab Ahmed s/o Muhammad Ramzan (CoIoED ID 2516-P) case was registered by Amina Masood Janjua on 7 April 2015 in which it was alleged that on 31 March 2014, he was apprehended by LEAS from his house at Chowk Azam Layyah. The case remained under investigation at ColoED for approx 18 months.
During the investigation it was revealed that Aftab Ahmed along with his friends namely Rasheed Ahmed and Ali Raza had illicit relations with a lady named Nabeela, Nabeela was abducted by his friends. Once Nabeela was rescued by Police she revealed that Aftab Ahmed was murdered by his friends Rasheed and Ali Raza on 25 October 2014, due to a dispute over her. Both his friends were detained by Police and during interrogation, they confessed to the murder.
Another case of enforced disappearance was the case of Sajjid Masih. Sajjid Masih’s case s/o Gulzar Masih (CoIoED ID 8086-P) was registered on 6 July 2021 by his brother in which he alleged that his brother was kidnapped by LEAs from Walton Rd, Lahore on 16 July 2019. The case remained under investigation at ColoED for approx 4 months.
The individual was residing with his friend Babar Masih for the job, however, his friend brought him back home in August 2021. During the investigation of the case, it was found that he was not abducted/ kidnapped, rather his brother registered a false case. An FIR was also lodged against him at PS Sadar Kasur for the abduction of a girl, presently, the individual is detained at Dist Jail Kasur.
The above cases highlight the seriousness of the working of the CoIoED and the disinformation propagated by Sub-nationalists like Mama Qadeer and HR activists like Amina Masood Janjua to create a wedge between the public and state institutions, mislead and youth, and defame Pakistan in the international arena.
https://www.facebook.com/peftnmedianews https://www.twitter.com/TNMediaNews
