By Danial Aziz
PESHAWER
Years of grief and pain echo in the dull eyes of Jahan Ara and Shamim, two elderly women from Swat. They have arrived in Peshawar to search for their missing sons. But one question screams the loudest from within their beings: ‘Where are our children?’ Yet this too remains unanswered.Jahan Ara’s son and both of Shamim’s sons have been missing for years. Despite failing health, old age, and severe financial hardship, these mothers have not given up and continue to knock on every possible door in the hope of finding their children. They say that while time has weakened their bodies, their maternal bonds have refused to give up hope.
“I’m alone, all I want is my children”
“One of my sons has passed away, the other two are missing,” she says. “I live alone. I am an old woman and can’t even manage household chores. Survival has become difficult. Someone tells me to go one place, someone sends me somewhere else… I just want my children back. I cannot live like this.”
She says that years of running between offices, courts, and protest camps have damaged her health even more, yet she has never been told what actually happened to her sons.
“11 years have passed, but my son never returned”
Jahan Ara’s grief is no different. She recalls that her son once had a bright future.
“My son passed his intermediate from Jahanzeb College and later secured admission in an engineering program at a university. One day, we were told to send him for a few questions and that he would be released. But 11 years have passed, and my son never returned.”
Her eyes well up with tears. “I ask Allah for my son, and I beg people as well. If my son committed any mistake, forgive him — even Allah forgives. The grief has taken away my eyesight.”
A long queue outside the Peshawar Press Club
But Jahan Ara and Shamim are not alone. Dozens of families just like them, who are searching for their loved ones have gathered outside the Peshawar Press Club in protest. Some hold photographs of their missing loved ones, others carry placards demanding the release of relatives who remain imprisoned despite completing their sentences.
The protesters say that years have passed since sentences are served, yet their loved ones remain behind bars, leaving families under extreme psychological and economic stress.
At the Peshawar High Court, Mondays and Fridays are designated for hearings related to missing persons. Courts routinely seek reports from relevant institutions, while a commission on enforced disappearances has also been activated following court directives.
Legal experts say that although judicial forums exist, ground realities show that families often wait for years without clear answers.
The numbers behind the pain
According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED), thousands of cases of missing persons have been reported across Pakistan, with a significant number belonging to Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) and the former tribal districts.
Human rights organizations state that while hundreds of cases have been resolved, a large number of families still have no information about the fate of their loved ones.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) describes enforced disappearances not merely as a legal issue but as a grave humanitarian crisis, with women and elderly parents bearing the heaviest burden.
“Don’t transfer prisoners to Punjab”
Protesters also urged the government to stop transferring prisoners from KP to jails in Punjab. They demanded that those already transferred be brought back so families can meet their relatives.
They said that visiting prisons hundreds of miles away is nearly impossible for poor families, further deepening their suffering.
A search for justice continues
Mothers like Jahan Ara and Shamim continue to move between courts, press clubs, and government offices in search of justice. For them, this is not merely a legal battle — it is a question of life and death.
Until a transparent and permanent solution to the issue of missing persons is found, one question will continue to echo on the streets of Peshawar: “Where are our children?”