01-11-2017, 11:16 PM
*** 12-Jan-17 World View -- Pakistan: Four secular anti-military activists vanish over the weekend
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Pakistan: Four secular anti-military activists vanish over the weekend
****
![[Image: g170111b.jpg]](http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170111b.jpg)
Demonstrators in Pakistan rally to protest the abduction of Salam Haider and others
In separate incidents, four secular anti-military activists in
Pakistan have disappeared within the last few days, apparently
kidnapped by the army. All of them actively post on social media, to
the discomfort of the army.
Asim Saeed, who was abducted from his home in Lahore on Friday, and
Ahmad Waqas Goraya, who was abducted the same day, both help run the
Mochi Facebook page critical of the military.
Another man, Ahmed Raza Naseer, was taken from his family's
shop on Saturday. Naseer suffers from polio.
The disappearance on Saturday of Salman Haider, a lecturer at Fatima
Jinnah Women University, was brought all four abductions to national
attention. Haider frequently wrote about how troubled Pakistan's
society it, with government security forces targeting Shias and ethnic
Hazaras in Balochistan. Haider also wrote about other people whom the
army the abducted, and that perhaps angered the army the most.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has
called for country-wide protests against the abductions:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"HRCP is greatly alarmed by Waqas Goraya and Asim
> Saeed disappearing on January 4, Salman Haider on Friday and Ahmed
> Raza Naseer on Saturday. All four are known for airing their
> views, sometime critical of authority, extremism and intolerance,
> on social media.
>
> Pakistan has never been a particularly safe country for rights
> activists. Many have been killed, injured, abducted and threatened
> for their work... The events of the last week demonstrate that the
> dangers already extend to digital spaces. We cannot be sure if the
> four cases are connected but expect that would be worth looking
> into as well.
>
> Threats and violence have never deterred Pakistan’s activists from
> speaking their mind and flagging issues that conscious citizens
> must raise in a civilized society. We know that the events of the
> last few days, will not change that. At the same time, however,
> HRCP also implores the government to wake up to its obligation to
> provide a safe environment for human rights defenders and
> activists."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
The abductions seem to be working. In the last two days, several
activists have closed down their online accounts.
Last year, Haider wrote a poem about the abductions. The following is
a translated excerpt from the Urdu:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"Now friends of my friends are going missing,
> Then it will be my friends, and then,
> It will be my file [of me missing] that
> my father will take to the courts."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Unfortunately, Haider's prediction came true on Saturday. Dawn (Pakistan) and Guardian (London) and The Diplomat
****
**** Pakistan's army accused of dumping over 1,000 bodies in Balochistan
****
According to Pakistan's Human Rights ministry, over 1000 dead bodies
of suspected armed separatists and political activists have been found
in Balochistan over the past six years.
The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) says it has recorded 1,200
cases of dumped bodies and there are many more it has not been able to
document. VBMP says that most of the bodies were activists who, one
day, were picked up by authorities and were never seen again.
However, Pakistan's government claims that they had nothing to do with
the killings. According to one provincial official: "There are
several explanations. Sometimes insurgents are killed in a gunfight
with law enforcement agencies but their bodies are found later.
Militant groups also fight among each other and don't bury their dead
fighters. Then there are tribal feuds, organized crime and drug
mafia." BBC
and International Business Times (London) and India Times
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Pakistan, Salman Haider,
Asim Saeed, Ahmad Waqas Goraya, Mochi Facebook page,
Ahmed Raza Naseer, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, HRCP,
Balochistan, Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, VBMP
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Pakistan: Four secular anti-military activists vanish over the weekend
- Pakistan's army accused of dumping over 1,000 bodies in Balochistan
****
**** Pakistan: Four secular anti-military activists vanish over the weekend
****
Demonstrators in Pakistan rally to protest the abduction of Salam Haider and others
In separate incidents, four secular anti-military activists in
Pakistan have disappeared within the last few days, apparently
kidnapped by the army. All of them actively post on social media, to
the discomfort of the army.
Asim Saeed, who was abducted from his home in Lahore on Friday, and
Ahmad Waqas Goraya, who was abducted the same day, both help run the
Mochi Facebook page critical of the military.
Another man, Ahmed Raza Naseer, was taken from his family's
shop on Saturday. Naseer suffers from polio.
The disappearance on Saturday of Salman Haider, a lecturer at Fatima
Jinnah Women University, was brought all four abductions to national
attention. Haider frequently wrote about how troubled Pakistan's
society it, with government security forces targeting Shias and ethnic
Hazaras in Balochistan. Haider also wrote about other people whom the
army the abducted, and that perhaps angered the army the most.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has
called for country-wide protests against the abductions:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"HRCP is greatly alarmed by Waqas Goraya and Asim
> Saeed disappearing on January 4, Salman Haider on Friday and Ahmed
> Raza Naseer on Saturday. All four are known for airing their
> views, sometime critical of authority, extremism and intolerance,
> on social media.
>
> Pakistan has never been a particularly safe country for rights
> activists. Many have been killed, injured, abducted and threatened
> for their work... The events of the last week demonstrate that the
> dangers already extend to digital spaces. We cannot be sure if the
> four cases are connected but expect that would be worth looking
> into as well.
>
> Threats and violence have never deterred Pakistan’s activists from
> speaking their mind and flagging issues that conscious citizens
> must raise in a civilized society. We know that the events of the
> last few days, will not change that. At the same time, however,
> HRCP also implores the government to wake up to its obligation to
> provide a safe environment for human rights defenders and
> activists."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
The abductions seem to be working. In the last two days, several
activists have closed down their online accounts.
Last year, Haider wrote a poem about the abductions. The following is
a translated excerpt from the Urdu:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"Now friends of my friends are going missing,
> Then it will be my friends, and then,
> It will be my file [of me missing] that
> my father will take to the courts."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Unfortunately, Haider's prediction came true on Saturday. Dawn (Pakistan) and Guardian (London) and The Diplomat
****
**** Pakistan's army accused of dumping over 1,000 bodies in Balochistan
****
According to Pakistan's Human Rights ministry, over 1000 dead bodies
of suspected armed separatists and political activists have been found
in Balochistan over the past six years.
The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) says it has recorded 1,200
cases of dumped bodies and there are many more it has not been able to
document. VBMP says that most of the bodies were activists who, one
day, were picked up by authorities and were never seen again.
However, Pakistan's government claims that they had nothing to do with
the killings. According to one provincial official: "There are
several explanations. Sometimes insurgents are killed in a gunfight
with law enforcement agencies but their bodies are found later.
Militant groups also fight among each other and don't bury their dead
fighters. Then there are tribal feuds, organized crime and drug
mafia." BBC
and International Business Times (London) and India Times
Related Articles
- Pakistan's bizarre blasphemy laws lead to death threats for son of slain governor (04-Jan-2017)
- Pakistan reels after 60 young police cadets killed in terror attack in Balochistan (26-Oct-2016)
- India and Pakistan in vitriolic accusations at the UN over Kashmir and Balochistan (18-Sep-2016)
- Sectarian violence surging all across Pakistan (24-Feb-2015)
- New report examines terrorism and religious extremism in Pakistan (26-Apr-2012)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Pakistan, Salman Haider,
Asim Saeed, Ahmad Waqas Goraya, Mochi Facebook page,
Ahmed Raza Naseer, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, HRCP,
Balochistan, Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, VBMP
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
