Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Friday told the Senate that his ministry has no information regarding the disappearance of peace activist Raza Mahmood Khan, who went missing on December 2 last year.
He said that efforts to recover Khan were underway but no headway has been made so far. Iqbal also informed the Senate that the Inquiry Commission for Missing Persons will hear the missing activist's case on February 9. "Representatives of all agencies will appear before the commission and will be questioned."
On Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani's question on the agencies' version on whether Khan is in their custody, the interior minister said that no agency has so far confirmed anything on the matter.
Khan, a convener of Aghaz-i-Dosti, a friendship initiative between the youth of India and Pakistan, was picked up from his residence in Model Colony, Lahore. The area falls under the ambit of the Naseerabad Police Station.
Activists belonging to various rights groups, along with friends and family, have been agitating for the activist's release. They have condemned the ‘enforced disappearance’ of activists and attempts to silence and harass those speaking up for peace and human rights.
International rights organisation, Amnesty International, has also demanded that the Pakistani government immediately ensure Raza's recovery.
"Scarcely does a week go by without Amnesty International receiving reports of people going missing in Pakistan," a statement issued by the organisation said. "Many of them may have been subjected to enforced disappearances, which is a crime under international law."
Find Raza: Civil society calls for recovery of missing activist on Human Rights Day
A petition seeking his recovery is also being heard by the Lahore High Court.
In January 2017, five bloggers and social media activists had gone missing after which blasphemy allegations were levelled against them on social media. The allegations were later proven to be untrue and four of the five missing persons returned. Samar Abbas, president of the Civil Progressive Alliance Pakistan, however, has still not been recovered.
