Karachi: 23-year-old, Bashir Shar, a young man, was picked up by security forces from his home in Bhitai Abad, Karachi on April 28, 2024.
When Bashir entered his home, the security forces approached and forcibly abducted him while his relatives resisted and struggled to protect him from security forces. The security forces included the police and rangers personnel in large numbers. They even fought with female relatives who were trying to prevent Bashir from being abducted by the forces.
Ghulam Rasool Shar, 26, is the second-eldest brother of Bashir. His voice trembled on the phone as he spoke to The Rise News about the abduction. “It was August 16, 2020,” he said, “when the security forces came for me and my brother Bashir Shar.” From the same place, Bhitai Abad, just the night before, the security forces repeated the same action by abducting Bashir again.
He recounted his first abduction, describing how the security forces treated them and the reason that was established to justify their abduction. During the initial phase, security agencies held them for almost five months and repeatedly asked why they had joined the protests against Enforced disappearances. Within that period, Ghulam was released, but his youngest brother, Bashir was not. Instead, his arrest was made on fabricated charges, and during his trial, he spent two and a half years in jail.
Ghulam’s voice was sad when he shared that his family requested parole for Bashir to attend his father’s funeral, who died on January 22, 2023, but the request was declined. A few days later, not a single case was proven; the court released him on January 28, 2023.
He further added that his family had been threatening because his family members had spoken out against enforced disappearances. Now, even though his family, including Bashir, was not involved in any political activity nor joined any protest, Bashir was focused solely on his job in Dubai. He was scheduled to return to Dubai for work within a week, but the agencies abducted him.
Threats Loom over Sindh’s Political Movements
The U.S. State Department released its report on Human rights violations in Pakistan in 2023, which highlighted cases of missing persons. “Activists claimed 500 Sindhis were missing, with more than 142 disappearing in 2022 alone. The Voice of Sindhi Missing Persons reported that 80 Sindhi persons had disappeared in Sindh province alone between January and August, many of whom were reportedly associated with Sindhi nationalist parties.”
Sorath Lohar, a leading activist, heads the organization Voice for Missing Persons for Sindh. Her father, Hidayat Lohar, a political activist, was abducted in 2017 and after his release, was killed on February 16 of this year.
Since then, Sorath has been protesting for justice. Despite knowing that her efforts might not bring justice to her father, she firmly believes in peaceful protest as a way to seek justice.
When asked her about the abduction of Bashir, she recalled Niaz Lashari who was abducted and later gunned down on the court premises. She also mentioned two political activists from Thar, who were merely activists and were killed.
The point was that since 2017, Sindhis who have spoken out for human rights are being killed or abducted. Recently, young activist, Afzal Lund and then her father, Hidayat Lohar, were both killed.
“The state has started killing Sindhis under the pretext of target killing,” Sorath said. “It is the state that wants to turn Sindh’s situation into that of Balochistan.”
Sarang Joyo, head of Sindh Sujag Forum, is a prominent voice against Human rights violations. He was abducted on August 11, 2020, and four days later, Ghulam and his brother Bashir were also abducted.
He said that the state’s agencies abduct Sindhis over fabricated cases to silence voices that speak for justice. Moreover, the state intends to justify its funding for counter-terrorism, so it abducts innocent people and portrays them as terrorists.
“Over the past few years, the state has tried to weaken political movements, and what’s more, it wants political movements to vanish from Sindh,” says Sarang.
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