Daily Times

When people go missing under the suspicion that one of the intelligence agencies have picked them up without a judicial warrant, you expect the sitting government — no matter how weak it is — will act to help locate and release the abducted citizens. To put things in proper perspective, let us clarify one thing before moving forward: ‘Missing people’ is a euphemism to say ‘kidnapping for ransom.’ Yes, kidnapping, because ransom does not always have to be paid in cash. It can be paid with a guaranteed future cooperation; by keeping quiet on important issues; and even through self-exile; each one of the options devastating for the hostage or his family.

Anyways, even if the government fails to set them free, at least it would find out where the captives are held; how they are coping up with their detention; and when they would be able to establish contact with their relatives. In the best case scenario, it would also provide some update about the charges against the abductees and the timing of their formal indictment. These efforts would also send a soothing signal to the society at large: a message declaring that the state machinery is working (albeit imperfectly); that people are not living in a jungle; that some rules still apply. However, none of that holds true in Pakistan, not when its leadership reckons that the political gains of any conflict with the agencies are estimated close to zero.

To quote his own words, Chaudhry Nisar must be very ‘ashamed’ of himself with the abduction of the activists. As the Leader of Opposition, he, a few years ago, had emotionally announced, “I am shameful of being a citizen of a country where people are not safe. I am shameful of being a member of an Assembly where I cannot do anything for the families of missing persons.” I wonder why does he not take any action now. Who is stopping him? If nothing else, he can step down and let someone else do a better job. It may also help him rebuild his image as a principled politician who means what he says, a man of his words. But is he a man of his words or just a man with too many words and too little action?

Along with him at that time, the leader of PMLN, Mian Nawaz Sharif, had provided the same lip service to the media and the civil right activists. “How can someone be above the law and abduct the citizens of Pakistan whatever the reason there is?” he questioned. “Why does a democratic government not make such powers accountable?”

Is he making those powers accountable now as the leader of the House, the head of the government? I doubt that as his only response to such queries nowadays is an utter silence. Being thrown in the prison and then exiled, we did not expect sealed lips and tied tongues from him, we expected courage and assertiveness, we expected him to honour on his own slogans. But that, I guess, has evaporated with the dreams of winning the upcoming elections.

Notwithstanding that he is not the only one who has decided to stay quiet on this matter, the nagging issue has consumed every activist who is now afraid if he/she is going to be the next in line to be captured; if someone is watching him, too, or going through his Facebook posts, reading every remark, deciding about his patriotism, judging his faith. The current opposition, which should have been all over the place has also adopted the attitude of ‘looking the other way.’ This means that they see no evil in the operations of the agencies (no matter how illegal it is), they hear no evil about their activities, and they definitely say no evil against their ‘outreach.’ Both the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the self-proclaimed “real opposition”, and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have made no effort to make the abduction of poets and bloggers their priority.

As the most vocal opposition leader, Imran Khan, who appears before the camera on an hourly basis, has avoided the issue as if he was asked to bowl with a stress fracture, a sure sign of the politics of fear and opportunism. I am not here to define the job of the opposition to PTI, however, in any modern society, if the government founders or underperforms, the opposition takes it to the task. Doing that is not a matter of choice but an obligation, a matter of faith that people have put in the party. If the opposition does not fulfil its obligation or opts for a safe exit like picking on corruption while ignoring the matters that pertain to human rights, it is not doing its job. It is doing an injustice to the society. And that injustice can convert itself into a full blown catastrophe anytime. How? Imagine the same scenario with PTI in power for a moment. Its government, I believe, would take the blame of picking up the citizens itself to protect the agencies in an attempt hush up the issue. Its leaders may also initiate or support the blasphemy campaign against the missing people diverting people’s attention. The net result? From the partial democracy that we have now, we will then have demagoguery.

The writer is a US-based freelance columnist and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com