Islamabad High Court seeks report on abduction of Kashmiri journalist Ahmed Farhad Shah

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani has summoned a report from the defence secretary on the alleged role of state intelligence agencies in the abduction of Kashmiri poet and journalist Ahmed Farhad Shah, Dawn reported on Thursday.

Shah was allegedly abducted from his home on Wednesday. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had called on the authorities for his immediate release.

A petition was filed by Shah’s wife in the IHC the same day, requesting that he be found and produced before the court and to identify, investigate and prosecute those responsible for his disappearance.

Justice Kayani had conducted the first hearing on the matter a day ago and ordered Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jameel Zafar to retrieve Shah at any cost, warning that he would otherwise summon the defence secretary.

Shah’s wife was represented in court today by Advocates Imaan Zainab Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha, while SSP Zafar, Assistant Attorney General Usman Rasool Ghuman and other officials were also present, Dawn reported.

During the hearing, Justice Kayani asked the SSP whether he had ever received a “positive response” from institutions in investigations related to missing persons cases.

Justice Kayani further remarked that an investigation was not completed in any of the missing persons cases registered so far in the year.

“Shamefully, the whole nation knows who is doing what, the whole of Pakistan knows, including me, but we have closed our eyes,” he remarked.

“What a great system, the missing person can’t even come back and say anything. When the missing person turns up, he and his family are told to keep quiet,” he added.

Justice Kayani opined that there should be legislation against enforced disappearances and that those involved in the practice “should be hanged.”

“The fact is, those who are critical of the state are missing, most of them being journalists and social activists,” the judge said. (ANI)

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