{"id":2290,"date":"2018-03-22T07:30:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T07:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taand.com\/en\/?p=2290"},"modified":"2018-03-22T07:45:35","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T07:45:35","slug":"fate-of-missing-persons-stirs-anger-among-pashtuns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290","title":{"rendered":"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy: Daily Times<\/p>\n

ISLAMABAD:<\/strong>\u00a0When Mohammad Ayub Khan heard his nephew had been picked up in Karachi, it brought back painful memories of another nephew who had gone missing in similar circumstances years before.<\/p>\n

Khan, an ethnic Pashtun, said he had been calling at army and police offices seeking news of Haji Akbar since his nephew was ordered off a bus seven years ago during a security alert in the northern Swat Valley.<\/p>\n

Then last year his second nephew, rickshaw driver Abu Ghurera, was detained by plainclothes men as he waited for a fare in the country\u2019s biggest city, according to witnesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have knocked at every door but have not gotten any answers,\u201d said Khan, who blames government agencies for both men\u2019s disappearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell us where our children are so we know if they are alive. And if they are dead, at least return their bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rights groups say such cases have been common for the past decade. But the simmering resentment of the Pashtun community boiled over in January, when a young Pashtun man was gunned down by police in Karachi in an incident an inquiry has since ruled to be an extrajudicial killing.<\/p>\n

The killing, initially described by police as a shoot-out with terrorist suspects, sparked peaceful protests across the country by members of the 30 million-strong Pashtun community, who say hundreds of their young men have been \u201cdisappeared\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which organized the protests, has compiled a list of approximately 1,200 missing persons after speaking to families.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International said on Monday that a UN working group on enforced disappearances had 700 pending cases from Pakistan and urged the authorities to do more to resolve them.<\/p>\n

PTM leaders say stories of Pashtun disappearances have been largely ignored until now, especially ordeals suffered by families from the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, including thousands who moved to major cities to escape a near-decade-long insurgency by militants.<\/p>\n

The Pakistan Army\u2019s public relations department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the military has in the past said it does not detain individuals without evidence. Pakistan\u2019s Ministry of Interior did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Many relatives, including Khan, say they had been too scared to speak up, fearing someone would act against them and their remaining family members.<\/p>\n

But protest leaders say that changed with the January killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in Karachi, and the demonstrations that followed that swelled to several thousand strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaqeeb\u2019s blood has given the rest of us a voice,\u201d said Alam Zeb Khan, one of the protest organizers.<\/p>\n

Pashtuns say that the insurgency raging in their homeland has led to their treatment as potential militants.<\/p>\n

The killing of Mehsud, an aspiring fashion model, received nationwide attention because his widely shared social media profile, laden with pictures of him posing in fashionable clothes, cast doubt on police assertions that he was a militant.<\/p>\n

A police committee of inquiry has since ordered the arrest of the officers responsible for his death and termed the incident an extrajudicial killing.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the January protests snowballed, with demonstrators camping out in the capital Islamabad, denouncing the disappearance and extrajudicial killings of young Pashtuns.<\/p>\n

Several of the Pashtun protest organisers say they have been activists since their teens.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to grow up early. It\u2019s because of the lives we are born into,\u201d Alam Zeb said.<\/p>\n

Student activist Manzoor Pashteen, 26, says he has waited years for this moment.<\/p>\n

Last year he was organising small 100-person protests in the northern town of Dera Ismail Khan, where he has lived since leaving conflict-ridden South Waziristan to pursue an education in 2005.<\/p>\n

On March 15, authorities filed a case against Pashteen for \u201cprovocation with intent to cause riot\u201d, carrying a maximum sentence of five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am angry because I am asking for my constitutional rights from the government,\u201d Pashteen told Reuters. \u201cAnd the state calls me treacherous.\u201d<\/p>\n

A senior police official said a case had been lodged against Pashteen over anti-state comments he made during the protests.<\/p>\n

In 2009, the army launched an offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan. The war reduced entire villages to rubble and turned nearly a million people into internal refugees.<\/p>\n

The leadership of the Pakistani Taliban hails from the region and the group controlled large swathes of territory in both South and North Waziristan until they were pushed out by the military in separate operations in 2009 and 2014.<\/p>\n

The region is still affected by media restrictions limiting the ability of journalists to travel there, and activists say that have contributed to the portrayal of the Pashtun population as wedded to backward tribal customs and maintaining close ties to militant groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your name is Mehsud and you\u2019re from South Waziristan, then immediately people associate you with militants,\u201d human rights lawyer Jibran Nasir said.<\/p>\n

Organisers say their protests have had some impact. Eight missing persons have returned in the past month, Alam Zeb told Reuters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have spoken to the families of all eight and they were with the law enforcement authorities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One such case is that of Sohail Ahmed, who was taken by men in plainclothes in July 2016 and finally returned earlier this month.<\/p>\n

In another case, a man who was arrested in the northern town of Bajaur turned up in police custody 150km (80 miles) away on charges of possessing weapons and bomb making materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hated militants,\u201d Mohammad Zahid said of his cousin, Kaleemullah, whose arrest he witnessed.<\/p>\n

Protesters say such stories are common.<\/p>\n

Mohammad Bilal has not seen his son since he was taken by security officials eight years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was working as a bus conductor in Karachi when the coach was stopped and Hazratullah was taken away,\u201d Bilal told Reuters, holding up a large picture of his son.<\/p>\n

Bilal says he has asked police and military officials about his son, but has received no answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am alone,\u201d he said. \u201cHe is my oldest son, how can I forget him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Published in\u00a0Daily Times, March 22nd\u00a0<\/sup>2018.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy: Daily Times ISLAMABAD:\u00a0When Mohammad Ayub Khan heard his nephew had been picked up in Karachi, it brought<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"yoast_head":"\nFate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns - Taand English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns - Taand English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Courtesy: Daily Times ISLAMABAD:\u00a0When Mohammad Ayub Khan heard his nephew had been picked up in Karachi, it brought\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Taand English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-22T07:30:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-22T07:45:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"taandcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"taandcom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"taandcom\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/3681fac18d733fc714b6134f14e0d46a\"},\"headline\":\"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-22T07:30:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-22T07:45:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290\"},\"wordCount\":1012,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290\",\"name\":\"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns - Taand English\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-22T07:30:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-22T07:45:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/3681fac18d733fc714b6134f14e0d46a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg\",\"width\":533,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?page_id=107\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Taand English\",\"description\":\"taand.net\/en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/3681fac18d733fc714b6134f14e0d46a\",\"name\":\"taandcom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e62e3bb666240d2978b5190b7b0bbd126368decad579e4014d0a1abbdc525ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e62e3bb666240d2978b5190b7b0bbd126368decad579e4014d0a1abbdc525ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e62e3bb666240d2978b5190b7b0bbd126368decad579e4014d0a1abbdc525ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"taandcom\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns - Taand English","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns - Taand English","og_description":"Courtesy: Daily Times ISLAMABAD:\u00a0When Mohammad Ayub Khan heard his nephew had been picked up in Karachi, it brought","og_url":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290","og_site_name":"Taand English","article_published_time":"2018-03-22T07:30:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-22T07:45:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":533,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"taandcom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"taandcom","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290"},"author":{"name":"taandcom","@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/3681fac18d733fc714b6134f14e0d46a"},"headline":"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns","datePublished":"2018-03-22T07:30:54+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-22T07:45:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290"},"wordCount":1012,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg","articleSection":["articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290","url":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290","name":"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns - Taand English","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg","datePublished":"2018-03-22T07:30:54+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-22T07:45:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/3681fac18d733fc714b6134f14e0d46a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg","width":533,"height":300},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?p=2290#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?page_id=107"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fate of \u2018missing persons\u2019 stirs anger among Pashtuns"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/","name":"Taand English","description":"taand.net\/en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/3681fac18d733fc714b6134f14e0d46a","name":"taandcom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e62e3bb666240d2978b5190b7b0bbd126368decad579e4014d0a1abbdc525ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e62e3bb666240d2978b5190b7b0bbd126368decad579e4014d0a1abbdc525ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e62e3bb666240d2978b5190b7b0bbd126368decad579e4014d0a1abbdc525ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"taandcom"},"url":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/?author=2"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2290"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2293,"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290\/revisions\/2293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taand.net\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}