Pakistan activists slam illegal detention of Pashtun leader

Chaman [Pakistan], December 3 : Days after the unlawful arrest of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader and human rights activist Owais Abdal, fellow activists have called the Pakistan government for his release. Abdal was arrested from Chaman last month and is currently being kept in an unknown location.
PTM leader Mohsin Dawar condemned his illegal detention saying that Owais Abdal is a "victim of war and oppression."
"Owais Abdal is a victim of war and oppression. His anger is a reaction to extreme frustration & hopelessness felt by Pashtuns. Rather than reacting to his words with 7ATA, the State should focus on what brought him to the point of making that speech," Mohsin Dawar tweeted.
This comes after thousands of people last month participated at the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement rally in Chaman demanding an end to the war in Afghanistan and also to "ensure an end to extrajudicial killings" in Pakistan.
Echoing the sentiments of Dawar, self-described social activist Mustafa Kamal Kakar called for the release of Owais, holding the Pakistan agencies responsible for the violation of his constitutional right.
"Arresting PTM and human rights activist Owais Abdal from Chaman on the basis of his speech and transferring him to an unknown location is considered a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of expression. This is a serious crime by agencies and state," said Mustafa Kakar.
Pakistan has a long history of enforced disappearances, many of which have targetted human rights and minority defenders critical of the government and the military, as well as persons suspected or accused of involvement in the opposition.
A large number of political activists, intellectuals, women and children from Pakistan's minority community have been victims of enforced disappearances by the security agencies.
A few days ago a Baloch professor Liaquat Sani Bangulzai was "adducted" while travelling to Khuzdar district in Balochistan along with two other university teachers.
The two other professors -- Prof Shabbir Shahwani and Prof Nizam Shahwani -- were later found in the Kanak area along Quetta-Taftan highway, Dawn reported. However, there has been no trace of Liaquat Sani.
Human Right Activist Gulalai Ismail said she strongly condemned the abduction of Liaquat Sani from Mastung. "I strongly condemn the abduction of Dr Liaqat Sunny from Mastung, a Professor of the University of Balochistan and a renowned poet," she had tweeted.