Missing persons issue can’t be resolved overnight, says Azam Tarar

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Tuesday that the issue of missing persons, spanning over four decades and having several dimensions, could “not be solved overnight” but the government was committed to address it by first achieving a consensus amongst all stakeholders.

Addressing a news conference along Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, the law minister said that the missing persons issue — spanning over four decades — could “not be solved overnight through any haste or someone’s anxiety or someone speaking on social media platforms or even court directives”.

Azam Nazeer Tarar said that 10,200 cases of missing persons were registered in the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIoED) out of which around 8,000 cases have been addressed.

He said that the former PDM-led government formed a committee on the issue with the representation of all stakeholders including Balochistaion Awami Party (BAP) party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and others.

“Now the incumbent government was going to re-constitute the committee, which will have parliamentary presence, to continue its work on the subject,” he added.

He further said that the involvement of government institutions in the matter couldn’t be denied but no concrete evidence was ever produced before the committee in this regard.

He said that reports of missing persons were also not 100% correct every time. Two people were facing jail sentences in various cases while one was found among the attackers of Gawadar attack, he said.

The Pakistan army and people, he said, have lost number of lives in the incidents of terrorism in the country. He said that there was a need to get a political solution along with the legal efforts, adding that if anyone was found involved in a crime he must be prosecuted.

Taking over the presser, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the voters during the recent bye-elections had rejected PTI’s narrative of “hatred, hypocrisy and lies”.

Tarar said that much hue and cry was made about so-called rigging in the by-elections but even a single proof could not be presented by the PTI leadership.

He said that the outcome of bye elections also cleared doubts about February 8 general elections created by a certain political party.

The minister remarked that people of Pakistan had buried the PTI’s narrative based on violence, duplicity and lies as not PML-N voters, but other people also voted for PML-N due to its pro- people policies and track record of servicing the masses.

Replying to questions of media persons, he said that names in Exit Control List (ECL) were added and removed on the recommendations of the Interior Division as per procedure.