Hindus are going missing in Sindh: HRCP
KARACHI: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed concern over some missing Hindus in Sindh, said a press release Tuesday, adding that several complaints have been received of “enforced disappearances”. On September 9, 2006, 55-year-old Gordhan Das (alias G. M. Bhagat) of district Umerkot was picked up from reportedly by four law enforcement agency personnel in plainclothes. Bhagat was carried off in a double-cabin government vehicle from a spot close to his residence, G. M. Baghat House, opposite the sessions court. A petition was filed by Bhagat’s son Om Prakash in the Hyderabad High Court.
Another case was reported to the HRCP from the same district, the press release said. Chetan Kumar was arrested as an alleged “terror suspect” in 2001 and was sentenced by the Special Anti-Terrorism Court in Hyderabad. He was reportedly tortured and abused during his time in custody. Kumar was later acquitted by the SHC in Karachi in 2005. In July 2006, eight armed law enforcement agents arrived at his house in Bajeer Mohalla, district Umerkot, in a government vehicle. Kumar and his son were tortured and Kumar was then taken away, the press release said. His family informed the Umerkot police about the incident and requested that an FIR be lodged. The police refused, and Kumar’s whereabouts have been unknown since then.
The HRCP’s Zohra Yusuf demanded that law enforcement authorities and their agencies must either release the citizens or disclose the charges against such illegally arrested and kidnapped people. They should also disclose the law under which they have been arrested, the place of detention, and the name of the court where the case (if any) is pending, or where these detained people were produced. Yusuf said that the authorities must allow the friends and relatives of the detainees to meet them regularly as this is a basic human right guaranteed under the law.
Source: Daily Times
Date:12/27/2006
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