The Balochistan government would form a committee on the ‘missing persons issue’, said Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti on Tuesday as he described it as a ‘dicey subject’.
“We hear in the whole of Pakistan that missing persons has been made a burning issue or it is an issue,” he said at a press conference after a meeting in Quetta. “You know it has been a dicey subject. The count is dicey.”
Pakistan reported 51 more cases of enforced disappearances in 2023, a Defence of Human Rights report said in December last year.
Earlier in the day, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the missing persons matter could not be resolved overnight or in haste as there were issues on “both sides”.
The provincial parliamentary committee would comprise members from the treasury and opposition benches, including those not part of the august house.
Bugti spoke about the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances in the past, saying that it resolved at least 80% of the cases.
“If even a single person is missing then there is no justification. But to establish that who made them missing. This is a very difficult job. Sometimes people blame security agencies for, but then it is found that the person who was missing has been killed in a terrorist activity,” he said.
“There is a big different between self-disappearance and missing persons,” the chief minister said and added that the committee would take the whole stock of the matter.
Bugti added that it was “inappropriate” to make missing persons a propaganda tool and use it against the state institutions. While reiterating the government’s job to find out missing persons if there are, he added that making judgements on the matter was not appropriate.
He claimed that the Indian intelligence agency was behind many militant organisations.
“I want to assure you that the government will maintain its writ,” he said and called for playing a role in the fight against terrorism.
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Before speaking about the matter, he said that the committee would also talk to disgruntled Baloch.
“There is a narrative in Pakistan that talks should be held with militants in Balochistan. So how will it be done, with whom it will be done and who wants to talk to you and who does not. Parliament is supreme and it will take lead on this.”
Bugti said that the committee would talk to everyone, including elders in the Baloch and Pakhtun communities. The chief minister said that it would great if the matter was resolved through dialogue.
