WHILE the issue of enforced disappearances, allegedly at the hands of the security agencies, in Sindh is nowhere near the levels it is in Balochistan, nationalists and politicians have been saying for some time that they are increasingly being harassed. The veracity of this complaint appears to be borne out by the circumstances surrounding the death of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz leader Muzaffar Bhutto, whose body bearing two bullet wounds was found in the Chalgari area near Hyderabad on Tuesday. Mr Bhutto had been missing since Feb 25. His wife, who had filed a constitutional petition for the recovery of her husband, believes he had been picked up by the intelligence agencies. He had earlier been kidnapped in a similar fashion on at least two occasions.

The manner in which Mr Bhutto, whose party advocates the creation of a separate state of ‘Sindhu Desh’, disappeared and was found dead is reflected in the cases the Supreme Court is pursuing in Balochistan. During the course of the constitutional petition filed by Ms Bhutto, the security agencies denied that Mr Bhutto was in their custody. However, if it is not the intelligence or law-enforcement apparatus that is indulging in these tactics, then the onus is upon them to comprehensively establish their lack of involvement by vigorously pursuing all such ‘kill and dump’ cases and helping in identifying the actual culprits. The issue is extremely grave, and it is fortunate that due to the efforts of the families of the missing persons, the media and the judiciary it has been brought to the forefront of public attention. It is putting a significant black mark on the country’s human rights record and requires a solution on an urgent basis. Those responsible for such kidnappings and killings must recognise that all they are achieving is the further alienation of the people.