LAHORE: Activists from various civil society and political organisations braved Monday’s downpour and heavy traffic to gather in front of the press club and demand the release of Raza Khan, an activist missing since Dec 2, and an end to enforced disappearances.

“Raza’s only crime was to speak up for a peaceful, tolerant and a free society,” said Farooq Tariq of the Awami Workers Party.

He lamented that activists, peasants and members of the underclass who dared to digress from the line and narrative set by the state often went “missing”.

The protesters, which included a large number of students, shouted slogans demanding Raza Khan’s recovery, freedom of expression and thought, and justice for the missing activist.

“An environment of fear is being created by silencing progressive voices while religious fanatics are allowed to roam free and wreak havoc as they please, said Haider Kaleem of the Progressive Students Collective.

Human rights lawyer Asad Jamal pointed out that under law, an individual who had been taken into custody was supposed to be presented before a magistrate within the first 24 hours. Article 9 of the Constitution guaranteed every individual the right to life.

He said it was unfortunate that those who had “abducted” Raza Khan did not care about flouting the Constitution.

Raza is a member of the Awami Art Collective organisation, shared Aroon Arthur, a close friend of the missing activist. “He is a humble, gentle and a peace-loving human being... I don’t understand why anyone would abduct him,” he said about Raza.

Missing activists need to be considered political prisoners because they have been picked up because of their opinions, said Dr Ammar Ali Jan, who alleged that anti-terrorism laws under the National Action Plan were constantly being used to crush dissent and silence the progressive voices of students, peasants, workers, nationalists and political and social activists.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2017