After being summoned for a third time, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Wednesday finally appeared before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a case pertaining to missing Baloch students.
During the hearing, which was presided over by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Kakar said that the issue should be solved by the country’s “major political parties” as the incoming government would have the powers to legislate on the issue.
Justice Kayani had resumed hearing a petition regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. At the previous hearing, he had remarked that the “purpose of summoning the prime minister was to inquire why the state’s premier is failing in his duties.”
The commission was established in 2011 to trace missing persons and fix responsibility on the individuals or organisations responsible for it.
The IHC had previously summoned PM Kakar on Nov 29. After he had failed to appear before the court, it had warned that a case could be registered against the interim premier and others if they failed to reunite the missing Baloch students with their families.
During the Nov 29 hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan had informed the court that out of 50 missing persons, 22 had been recovered, while the whereabouts of 28 others were still unknown.
On January 10, Justice Kayani had remarked that a day would come when intelligence officials would also be held accountable and face prosecution for cases. In a subsequent hearing, he had summoned PM Kakar for a second time, observing: “The punishment of enforced disappearances should be the death penalty.”
However, the caretaker premier had again failed to show up on February 19 and was summoned for a third time today.
The court had also issued directives for constituting a joint committee of directors general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), and Military Intelligence (MI) for tracing the whereabouts of students from Balochistan who are allegedly missing.
On Tuesday, the federal government had approached the IHC seeking to overturn the order.
Today, Kakar and interim interior minister Gohar Ejaz appeared before the IHC. Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan and human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari also appeared before the court.
The hearing
During the hearing, PM Kakar said, “This matter should come to an end. The series of accusations levelled against the state every other day should stop. The law will have to see how to deal with non-state and state actors.”
Justice Kiyani then remarked that no court could grant protection to those who were against the state.
He then asked the prime minister if he could legislate on the matter, to which the latter replied, “I cannot. The new Parliament will have the powers [so] they can.”
“The authority to file a case lies only with the police, not with anyone else. Major terrorists were handed punishments by courts in this country. It is mandatory to present the people being picked up before the courts,” Justice Kayabi said.
Kakar stated that “major political parties” should come together to solve this issue. “Our institutions have made great sacrifices. Every day, the jawaans of the institutions are being martyred.
“Every day, the children of the institutions’ are made orphans but we are silent. Article 5 of the Constitution demands unconditional loyalty from me,” he added.
Justice Kayani went on to say that examples of enforced disappearances were also present in Islamabad. “We do not need to go to Balochistan. We have examples of Islamabad before us. Matiullah Jan is standing in front of you. He was picked up in broad daylight. A video was also present [of it].”
“The point is the same; that everyone should abide by the law and not go against it,” he added. Kakar then said that there should be a case file against “whatever happened with Matiullah Jan”.
At one point during the hearing, Justice Kayani said he had formed a three-member committee on the issue, which would be questioned in the future.
“t is my request that let the Executive oversee this as it is its jurisdiction,” Kakar told the judge.
More to follow
