November 30, 2024
By Nadeem Khan
QUETTA
A large-scale protest has been ongoing outside the Balochistan Assembly, with children leading the charge with slogans demanding the safe return of their classmate Musawir Kakar. The demonstrators have been on the streets for the last 15 days when Musawir Kakar was abducted on his way to his school in Quetta.
Speaking with Voicepk.net, Raz Muhammad, Musawir’s father, shared his family’s immense pain and suffering.
“Ever since Musawir has been kidnapped, it seems as if our entire life has been set alight,”
he said.
The Supreme Court has conducted a hearing regarding the boy’s kidnapping in Quetta after taking a suo motu notice.
“The five-member bench had summoned the provincial police chief to report their progress regarding the investigation,” Raz Muhammad said, adding that according to his lawyer who attended the hearing, the bench expressed satisfaction with the investigations relating to the boy’s safe recovery from the kidnappers.
‘According to Balochistan police statistics, a total of 26 child abduction cases have been registered in Quetta this year. Of these, 11 children remain missing, and one abducted child has been found murdered.’
During a court hearing regarding Musoor Kakar’s abduction case, the Home Department presented a report on the Safe City Project. The report revealed that out of the 830 closed-circuit television cameras installed in Quetta, 630 are non-functional. This significant number of non-operational cameras has raised concerns about the city’s security. Despite a budget of 7.4 billion rupees, this project still needs to be completed.
The protest has received support from traders, civil society, and political parties. Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the head of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, criticised the law enforcement agencies for their failure to recover the boy from kidnappers during a press conference in Quetta.
“The intelligence agencies, both civil and military, have advanced technology through which they have identified the kidnappers and the location where the boy has been held hostage but they are not taking action for reasons best known to them,” alleged Achakzai.
When the Chief Minister of Balochistan, Sarfaraz Bugti, visited the protest venue and assured the family of Musawir Kakar’s safe return, the protest committee agreed to postpone the demonstration for 10 days.
Akhtar Kakar, a member of the protest committee, said that they were forced to hold demonstrations due to the negligence of the police.
“We exercised our right of a peaceful protest even after the police failed to timely register the first information report and dragged their feet over safely recovering the boy,” he said.
The government has assured the protestors that the State machinery has been mobilised for the boy’s safe return, adding that the protest committee members remained in contact with the government officials in this regard.
Although the government has formed a joint investigation team to recover the abducted child and the protest has been temporarily suspended, Musawir Kakar’s family continues to live in fear and uncertainty.