Chairman BNP-Mengal Sardar Akhtar Mengal has said that the Pakistan’s ministry of human rights should be dissolved as it serves no purpose. He made the comments while addressing the Pakistani Human Rights minister Shireen Mazari after Pakistan’s parliament rejected a bill regarding enforced disappearances.
The Baloch leader also urged international human rights groups to pay attention to the human rights violations in Balochistan.
Earlier, the Pakistani National Assembly rejected the bill proposed by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and the Balochistan National Party Mengal (BNP-Mengal) regarding enforced disappearances. Prominent politicians and rights activists have resented the action, saying that the decision reflects the seriousness and honesty of the political parties of Pakistan regarding enforced disappearances.
The bill proposed that the persons or elements involved in enforced disappearances must be sentenced to life imprisonment and penalized. Activist and prominent politicians say that the government initially deemed it a matter of peace and safety and it has now openly rejected the bill on enforced disappearances.
Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Dr. Mehdi said that enforced disappearance have reached “alarming” proportions in Pakistan. But unfortunately, the public representatives neither address the issue nor legislate to put an end to it. He said that this is not the problem of a single political party, all of the parties in the country have never taken the human rights issues seriously.
Mehdi said that the sudden disappearance of a civilian is unthinkable in civilized countries. The incidents of enforced disappearance have been on the rise in Balochistan and interior Sindh – HRCP has published numerous reports in this regard, but the rulers of the country and mainstream political parties loath to address and settle the issue.
Former National Assembly member Bushra Gohar said that it is “shameful” that the government rejected the bill without giving it a second thought. She said that the bill should have been sent to the relevant authorities where it should have been thoroughly debated, but that did not happen. Even the individuals raising voice against enforced disappearances are being targeted. The parliament cannot remain nonchalant on this issue; it must form laws and bring the state institutions under its legislation, she said.
Usman Kakar of the Pashtunkhwa Mili Awami Party said PTI’s rejection of the bill is understandable; it is currently the ruling party of the country. But the PPP and the PML-N should have supported the bill. He said that enforced disappearances are not a “provincial problem” – as the government touts – but a fundamental human rights violation. Until the involved parties are not punished, the problem will not be solved, he said.
‘Conspiracy against the military’
The officials of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said the bill on enforced disappearances is a “conspiracy against the military.” PTI MNA Mohammad Iqbal Khan said that Moshin Dawar had presented the bill in the National Assembly, and everyone knows that Dawar is an “anti-military” person who speaks against the defensive institutions of the country. He said that if Dawar had been living in another country, he would have been “liquidated” by now.
He further added that Dawar should be “grateful” that he is living in Pakistan where the government has not done anything to him, despite that the “fact” that he has “spewed poison” against Pakistan and the military in countless demonstrations and rallies. He said that by this bill, Dawar aimed to “defame” the military, which is why it was rejected.
The MNA said that the bill is needless – all this “commotion” about the missing persons is baseless. The truth is that that these people have fled to Afghanistan or other countries. He said that if someone is found involved in a crime, the public will be informed about them. “There is no need for a bill”, he concluded.