Families of Shia missing persons continue protests for 4th day against Pak govt

The families of Shia missing persons and Pakistan's Joint Action Committee (JAC) on Tuesday continued their protest for the fourth day against the Imran Khan-led government demanding the whereabouts of the missing persons.

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Shehla Raza and Orgsation Restoration Committee of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Farooq Sattar called on the protesters to express their solidarity, Dawn reported.

They said it is a matter of concern that people in the city are missing in this manner. "It is a democratic right of the families to protest."

Sattar said that the issue of missing persons is a question mark on the state and state institutions. He said that political parties have failed to solve the problem of missing persons after coming to power. "The government is showing indifference on the issue. The state should respect the basic rights of the people."

"The Sindh government has taken sensitive agencies on board on this issue. The names of the missing persons mentioned by the families today will be recovered very soon. I stand with the families of the missing persons and feel their pain. If there are any allegations [against] the missing people, they should be presented in court," said Raza.

The Joint Action Committee for Shia missing persons had started their sit-in on Friday.

Action Committee leaders stated that if the missing persons were involved in any crime, they should be brought before the courts. "They should not be taken away like this with their families not even knowing whether they were dead or alive," said the leaders as per the Dawn.

Enforced disappearances have been a long stain on Pakistan's human rights record. Despite the pledges of successive governments to criminalise the practice, there has been a very slow movement on legislation, while people continue to be forcibly disappeared with impunity.

Enforced disappearance has been used as a tool by the Pakist state to silence the minority communities. While countless abductees have been killed, many of them are still facing inhuman torture in army secrets cells.

( With inputs from ANI )