The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) sought a response from the civil and military leadership on the alleged “death squads” being run by intelligence agencies as it resumed hearing in the Balochistan law and order and missing persons case on Thursday.
Thursday’s hearing was attended by Balochistan National Party leader and a former chief minister of Balochistan, Sardar Akhtar Mengal.
Heading the three-member bench of Justice Jawad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said the court had issued 60 orders during 68 hearings in the case, but no practical step had been taken.
The court also told the Balochistan chief secretary to deliver Sardar Akhtar Mengal’s message to the federal and provincial leadership and sought from him a written reply on the issue on the next hearing.
The CJ further told the chief secretary to discuss the issue with the president, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general and Military Intelligence (MI) DG and to inform the court in writing what steps were being taken to resolve the issue.
The chief justice said in his remarks that the missing persons would be recovered and the court would go to any extent, if needed, to achieve the purpose.
“All overt and covert operations must be put to an end and the displaced Baloch should be rehabilitated,” the CJ said.
Justice Chaudhry said FIRs would be lodged against those held responsible and the cases would be heard in high courts rather than lower courts.
Appearing in court, an emotional Mengal poured his heart out to the SC.
He said the issue of missing persons was critical for the province and the roots to the problem could be found in the 65-year political history of the province, adding that every government deceived the people of Balochistan and the issue had gone beyond the control of agencies.
He alleged that the ‘death squads’ of intelligence agencies were exterminating nationalists. Mengal alleged that the agencies should be held responsible for the situation in Balochistan which was worse than that of Kashmir and Palestine.
Mengal said he had appeared in court only to discuss the missing persons issue, adding that without the resolution of the missing persons issue the 65-year-old political issue could not be resolved.
The nationalist leader said the province had undergone five military operations and no one was answerable, asking what fault had the victims committed.
death squads
Mengal also claimed that during the military rule, every attempt was made to suppress the political voice of the Baloch people. He said attempts were still being made to eliminate the genuine leadership of the Baloch people and replacing them with artificial leaders who were “manufactured in factories” and the federal and provincial lawmakers never visited the rural areas of the province and remained confined to the ministerial secretariat. The former chief minister said nationalist leadership was being specifically targeted, adding that the heirs of the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti were not even allowed to attend his funeral. Mengal said if an order was issued to rehabilitate the Baloch displaced since 10 years, it would be a step forward.
The BNP leader said he had seen a ray of hope after 65 years on the matter of missing persons. The court later adjourned proceedings until today (Friday).
SC seeks report on spy agencies’ death squads
