- PPP lawmaker shares a systematic campaign behind ‘disappearances, blasphemies’
Discussing mysterious disappearance and return of bloggers, senators regretted the government’s response to whole affair and demanded that the matter be referred to appropriate Senate’s committee or a new committee be formulated for the purpose.
A motion tabled by Senator Farhatullah Babar of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Senator Muhammad Usman Kakar of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) was previously deferred by the House. Senator Babar pointed out new trend, saying these five bloggers – known to criticise the state’s security policies – were proclaimed as blasphemers on social media soon after their missing.
“Some pages were shown, which of course were blasphemous. But no one tried to know, whether the missing individuals were running the pages,” he questioned. He also said that those who criticise the security policies of the state were given a message. “The message is if you don’t mend your ways, you’ll be disappeared. Or if you are not abducted, a campaign will be declared blasphemer, which is a death sentence,” he said.
The PPP lawmaker demanded that since executive institutions have failed, the Senate may form a committee to look into the matter to find those responsible for such abductions. Senator Kakar pointed out that if such disappearances were happening in Islamabad, what would be the situation in other cities and provinces. “Interior minister has told us that the disappeared will return, we need to know who abducted these bloggers,” he asked.
He reiterated that if someone was guilty of breaking the law, they should be arrested and brought before the courts. “Those who are doing it are more powerful than the parliament, more powerful than the government, more powerful than the courts and more powerful than the police. We need to ask that who are they,” he questioned, and asked the Ministry of Interior to brief the parliament on the issue.
“Some people have been picked up lately. Picking up of people I don’t object. But it must be done in accordance with the law of the land. Anybody, who has inclination or love for democracy, for decency and for justice, will agree to what other senators have said,” said Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of the Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). He said that there has to be a distinction between law enforcers and law breakers. “You cannot enforce law by breaking the law. You cannot wipe out crime by committing a crime. You cannot remove terrorism by terrorising,” he said.
He stressed that the missing bloggers were picked up for their stance. “They were advocating what were the ideals of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. They worked for the progressive, liberal, tolerant, modern and democratic Pakistan – the real narrative of Pakistan,” he said, and requested that a permanent committee be formed to look into the matter and discuss the issues threadbare.
Senator Nihal Hashmi of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) said that the House should not mix up terrorists and missing persons together. “These bloggers and people like them are, may be, more dangerous than those who terrorise us,” he said, and appreciated the Ministry of Interior and (Federal Minister) Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for expediting the recovery of the missing person.
“Yesterday, a man wrote a column in The Washington Post newspaper where he has admitted that during the PPP government how CIA was facilitated, how CIA was allowed operation in Abbotabad,” he said while referring to an opinion piece by Hussain Haqqani, former Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States. “We won’t allow those sitting in Washington, in New York to discuss our army and our agencies,” he said.
Nihal stressed that parametres are needed for the intellectual discourse. Responding, Senator Babar said that all visas were issued in accordance with the laid down procedure involving various state agencies and no irregularity whatsoever was committed. He said that there were no complaints from any government office in respect of the visas issued. He also said that he was spokesperson for former president and would confine his remarks to the extent of questions raised about Asif Ali Zardari and would not say anything about Hussain Haqqani and his article.
State Minister for Interior Muhammad Baleegh-ur-Rehman told the House that two bloggers – Salman Haider and Sammar Abbas – went missing from Islamabad. “Haider went missing on January 6, an FIR was lodged on the very next day and returned on January 28, 2017. However, he refused to record his statement,” he said. He said that there was no information on Abbas – the other missing activist. However, he requested for more time to share information on people who went missing all over the Pakistan.