Feb 17, 2024
Staff Report
LAHORE:
Mansoor Panhwar, the son of missing MQM-London leader Nisar Panhwar, urges the law enforcement authorities to release his father and brother – or “the family will initiate street agitation for their recovery”.
In an exclusive interview with Voicepk, he says, “The thought of a loved one being forcibly taken away late at night and then disappearing for many days is distressing. It would lead to countless restless nights for their family and friends.”
Former parliamentarian, Nisar Panhwar, and his son Mohsin Panwar, were taken into custody allegedly by law enforcement agencies in plainclothes in the wee hours of January 9, 2024.
The whereabouts of the father-son duo have remained unknown since then.
Backed by Altaf Hussain’s MQM London, the two men filed their nomination papers for general elections. Their alleged abduction occurred hours after their nomination papers were accepted by the returning officer.
Nisar was a candidate from NA-248, and received 4,490 votes in the Feb 8 polls, while Mohsin was vying for a provincial assembly seat, PS-85, and managed to receive only 127 votes.
Nisar served as a member of the National Assembly between 2004 and 2007, as well as the Sindh Assembly between 2008 and 2013.
“On January 8, the nomination papers of my father and brother were accepted, and at 2.30am on January 9, a few masked men knocked at our doors and entered our homes,” adds Mansoor.
“When we resisted and confronted the masked men, they introduced themselves as CTD personnel and assured us that they would release my father and brother soon after the elections, and they even swore to us,” he further adds.
Besides the father-son duo, a few other members of MQM-London, such as Osama Anjum and Tehseen Abbasi, who were also contesting elections, were either taken into custody or went missing before the polls. However, they returned home soon after the elections.
The Panhwar family is familiar with such enforced disappearances, as Nisar has been forcibly disappeared three times before.
In 2020, he was allegedly abducted and tortured for participating in the death anniversary of Sindh’s nationalist leader GM Syed. He disappeared again in 2021 soon after he filed a petition in the Sindh High Court seeking the lifting of a ban from Altaf Hussain’s speeches. The former MNA disappeared for the third time in August 2022, for participating in a procession.
Nisar’s family has registered an FIR against the abduction and has filed a habeas corpus petition in the Sindh High Court. On February 6, the court reprimanded police officials over their failure to produce the former MNA and his son. The court has adjourned the matter until February 21, and ordered the police to recover the abductees.