ISLAMABAD: PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to speak to the relatives of the Baloch missing persons.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday in D-Chowk, Islamabad where she came to visit protesters who were demonstrating over the issue of missing persons in Balochistan. The families of missing persons in Balochistan have gathered for days now in a camp outside the National Press Club, demanding the recovery of their loved ones.
Maryam criticised the government for not reaching out to the protesters, saying that it is the duty of the state to take care of its citizens. “If you cannot recover their loved ones, at least you can tell them where their loved ones, who are in torture cells, are,” Maryam said. “They won’t do anything, they will just cry and fall silent but at least the agony that they experience every day will end.”
She demanded PM to visit the D-Chowk and talk to the protesters, further adding that the missing person commission held no value. “You haven’t accepted any commission to date. A commission is of no use,” she said, describing it as ‘eyewash’.
The vice president of PMLN also urged the army chief and the head of ISI to resolve the issues of the protesters. “I want to say this to the army chief and DG ISI as well: They are citizens of your country, they are your daughters, your mothers,” adding that “Come talk to them. Resolve the issues that can be solved. Produce the people who are alive in courts and those who are not [alive] at least tell them (the families) that they are not alive.”
Maryam said if anyone has committed a crime, then there were courts in the country to deal with it under the judicial process. “The state is responsible for the protection of its citizens,” she said, reiterating her stance that if a missing person is guilty of any crime, they should be tried in court.
She further added that the victims are victims, they should not be associated with any province. “The oppressed do not have a province. Sindhi, Punjabi, even if someone is from KPK or Balochistan, an oppressed person is oppressed. For God’s sake don’t sprinkle salt on their wounds. At least tell your ministers not to worsen their grief and you should come and put your hand on their heads.”
At the protest site, Maryam also met Sammi Baloch, daughter of Dr Deen Muhammad, who was “abducted” by unknown men in 2009.
Previously, Maryam also met with missing person relatives during Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally in Quetta.
According to the Independent political observers, believe some missing persons may have joined militant groups, sponsored and trained by India to promote insurgency in Balochistan, and not every person missing is attributable to the state.
