Head of Abbottabad Commission former Justice Javed Iqbal on Monday asked the government to make the report of the Abbottabad incident public. Talking to media persons after briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control about the status of missing persons in each province, former Justice Javed Iqbal, who is also the chief of Commission on Missing Persons, said the establishment of new institutions in the country would not have been required and the government made report of the Abbottabad Commission public and acted on its recommendations.
Iqbal said the report clearly specified the names of those responsible for the circumstances surrounding the raid. "I am under oath not to disclose the details of the report," he said. While briefing the committee about the status of missing persons, Iqbal said that the issue of missing persons in Balochistan has been politicised and so far the commission has not been informed about the actual figures, names and addresses of the missing persons.
"The Voice of Baloch Missing Persons' caravan had shared different figures about missing persons. The caravan in the beginning said that a total of 22,000 people are missing, but when it reached Sukkur, it changed the number to 19,000, in Multan, 18,000, and in Islamabad it shared the figure of 17,000," he remarked.
He said that according to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), total number of missing persons is 3,500, but so far the NGOs have not provided the list containing names and addresses of mission persons. "The Chief Minister of Balochistan through a letter informed the commission that 900 citizens of Balochistan are missing," he said. But despite repeated requests, the Chief Minister Office did not provide the list containing names and addresses of the missing persons.
Iqbal further informed the committee that the situation of missing persons in other countries is similar to that of Pakistan, but the international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) exaggerate the situation in Pakistan. He said at the time of establishment of the commission, the total number of missing persons was 136 and now it is said to be soared the 3,662. "The commission has decided 2,416 cases while 1,246 cases are yet to be decided," he said, adding that 350 cases are still pending before the commission.
The Chairman of Missing Persons Commission informed the committee that despite repeated requests, the officials of Sindh government did not attend meetings of the commission. "Many cases of missing persons are still pending in Sindh," he added.
He said the officials of provincial government as well as those of the Ministry of Interior are not co-operating with the commission. Rehman Malik said that the commission should share the names of those officials with the standing committee who did not cooperate in this regard.
Iqbal further informed the committee that total strength of missing persons in Punjab is 223 and situation in southern Punjab is deteriorating day by day. "In spite of repeated requests, the government of Punjab did not provide proper office to the commission and it hires room on rent for meetings," he added.
He further said that total number of missing persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is 654, Balochistan, 96, Sindh, 203, FATA, 53, AJK, 11, and in Gilgit-Baltistan 4 persons are missing.
He said that a complete list of missing persons should be provided to the commission and he would conduct a complete investigation into all these cases. Some of the members of the committee raised the issue of 'missing and killing' in Balochistan, which was denied by former Justice Javed Iqbal. He said that the number of missing persons has always been exaggerated with respect to Balochistan.
Rehman Malik told the committee that as former interior minister he knows that the uniform of Pakistani law enforcement agencies (LEAs) is being impersonated by the Indian spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), through their agents, who are operating in Balochistan to destabilise Pakistan.
He said it is no more a secret that the RAW is actively working in Balochistan to incite sectarian and ethnic clashes with a view to creating the East-Pakistan like situation. "The arrest of RAW agent has confirmed that India is involved in the internal affairs of Pakistan and is abetting terrorism and extremism," he added. Malik asked the ministry of interior to sanction adequate budget for the commission and appropriate space for its offices in Lahore and Karachi should be provided as soon as possible.
The standing committee constituted a committee under the chairmanship of former Justice Javed Iqbal to propose a draft bill to regularise the commission in order to make it more powerful and effective. The committee was given six weeks to formulate its proposals.
The meeting was attended by Senators Chaudhry Tanvir, Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri, Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini, Mukhtar Ajiz Dhamrah, Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Azam Khan Swati.
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