Daily Times

A peace activist campaigning for better India-Pakistan ties has returned home, seven month after he mysteriously went missing, media reports said Friday.

Social activist Raza Mahmood Khan, a convener of Aghaz-i-Dosti – a friendship initiative between the youth of India and Pakistan – was reportedly picked up on December 2, 2017 from his Model Colony residence by men in plain clothes.

Activists belonging to various rights groups, along with friends and family, had since been agitating for Raza’s release. They had condemned the “enforced disappearance” of activists and attempts to silence and harass those speaking up for peace and human rights.

Mohammad Imran, SP Investigation Model Town, confirmed on Friday that Punjab Police had recovered Raza 10 days ago. He, however, was tight lipped about where the peace activist was found.

Raza is in good health, according to the police official, but is refraining from making a statement due to “security concerns”.

Ater his disappearance, Amnesty International had demanded that the Pakistani government ensure the recovery of the Lahore-based activist.

“The Pakistani authorities must take all measures as may be necessary to investigate Raza Khan’s fate immediately,” Amnesty’s Deputy South Asia Director Dinushika Dissanayake had said.

“Scarcely does a week go by without Amnesty International receiving reports of people going missing in Pakistan,” Dissanayake had said. “Many of them may have been subjected to enforced disappearances, which is a crime under international law.” Prior to that, Zeenat Shahzadi, a young journalist who was pursuing the case of an Indian citizen, went missing in 2015. Driven to despair, her younger brother had committed suicide.

Published in Daily Times, July 21^st 2018.