Director General – Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor has confirmed that a special cell has been set up by Pakistan Army at General Head Quarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi to facilitate the process regarding missing persons matter. The announcement was made in a meeting with Chairperson Defense of Human Rights Amina Masood Janjua at his office. The DG ISPR notified her about the endeavors that the government and the security forces are making to facilitate non-governmental organization that works on enforced disappearances. DG also mentioned that the issue for which a judicial commission is working midnight oil is keenly addressed at the specialized cell. “Our hearts go with the families of missing persons being Pakistanis,” he said.
It is not very often to see the DG ISPR meeting an NGO representative, but Maj. Gen. Ghafoor met Ms. Janjua to show the level of commitment of the Pak Army to the subject matter. He mentioned that, although Pak Army has heartfelt sympathies with the affected families but not every person missing is attributable to the state. He added that many individuals have lost their lives during the war against Pakistan as part of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and some are still in Afghanistan or maybe in other conflict zone working with the TTP.
Ms. Janjua expressed her satisfaction over the briefing and assured that the platform will not be used by the anti-state elements by misusing the emotions of the affected families against Pakistan. She has been fighting for years, along with human rights lawyers and relatives of hundreds of missing prisoners, to get information about people allegedly detained by Pakistan’s security agencies. She also hoped that with the latest development her husband would also be found. Her husband Masood Ahmed Janjua, who was a successful businessman of Peshawar, disappeared in 2005 along with his friend Faisal Faraz.
Last month, a joint sitting of the opposition clan which was hosted by Chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman also demanded the government to craft laws in favor of the missing persons, so that they can be presented before the court.
