Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday of making all-out efforts for the recovery of missing persons, saying that he will not give any “lame excuse”.
“I cannot say that all of the missing persons will be recovered, but we will leave no stone unturned,” he said. “I will not give any lame excuse.”
The premier made these remarks before IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah during the hearing of identical petitions seeking the recovery of six missing persons, including journalist Mudassar Mahmood Naro.
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At the last hearing, Justice Minallah had directed PM Shehbaz to ensure that the missing persons — whose cases were being heard in the IHC — were produced before the court on September 9 (today) and warned that the failure to do so would require the premier to appear in person on the said date and give an explanation.
When PM Shehbaz appeared before the court today, Justice Minallah said he had been summoned as the issue at hand was a big one.
And “the response from the state is not how it should be,” he added.
He recalled that the court had referred the matter of missing persons to the federal cabinet multiple times but the cabinet’s response “had not been what it should be”.
Making an apparent reference to former president Pervez Musharraf, he continued, “A chief executive ruled in this country for nine years. He proudly wrote in his book that we sold our people to foreign countries.”
“This court is not an investigation agency,” he further remarked.
The IHC CJ then noted that the government had also constituted a committee — a body that was set up in May on the IHC’s directives to deliberate a policy on enforced disappearances.
But the matter was not limited to a committee, he continued. “A commission was also formed for missing persons.
“The families of missing persons are sitting here. They revealed a lot of things about the commission.”
Moreover, he said the court had also been told about the reservations of Baloch students.
More to follow
‘State’s responsibilities should be fulfilled’
Justice Minallah stressed that the state’s responsibility should be fulfilled,“ regretting that in cases where missing persons were recovered, no further action was taken. “This court is a constitutional court … This court will look at the Constitution. There is no bigger issue than this,” he remarked.More to follow
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