Congratulations to the British boy’s family, however, local kidnapping cases go ignored in Pakistan
Pakistani woman Shamin Akhtar Butt, mother of kidnapped Mahnoor Fatima, 6, holds a placard and a picture of Mahnoor at a police office in Jhelum on March 16, 2010. – AFP
JHELUM: When six-year-old Mahnoor Fatima disappeared, her mother’s world collapsed. But she was too poor and abductions too common for Pakistani police to do much more than register the case.
So when Shamin Akhter Butt discovered senior officials were working round the clock to free a five-year-old British boy kidnapped nearly two weeks ago, she rushed to his home in the vain hope of attracting attention to her plight.
“Despite our cries and tears these last six months, nothing has happened. Why isn’t the same attention given to my daughter?” asked Butt through tears as she stood on the lawn of the British boy’s family home this month.
Mahnoor disappeared while playing outside on October 6 last year, but unlike Sahil Saeed, whose overjoyed family heard Tuesday he had been released, she has never been seen again.
“This shows the difference between rich and poor. No one even came to my house to console me… Everything is done here for the rich and the British but nothing for Pakistanis and the poor,” she told AFP by telephone on Tuesday.
When Sahil Saeed was kidnapped at the end of a holiday with his grandmother, other people with loved ones missing descended on his home in Jhelum, about 100 kilometres south of the capital Islamabad.
The compound shared by Sahil’s grandmother and uncle was crowded with Jhelum notables, political leaders, journalists from local newspapers and correspondents from some of the world’s most influential news channels.
The parents and families of children missing far longer than Sahil, with none of the diplomatic support or pledges of assistance from the government and police, were left wishing for more.
According to combined statistics from Pakistan’s four provinces, 240 people were kidnapped across the country in the first two months of the year alone – with only 74 of them recovered so far.
Many of the cases are related to family quarrels, love affairs, property disputes or simple quests for money – particularly for the wealthier victims.
In Karachi, Mohammad Masroor, a sales executive with a local firm, said he welcomed Sahil’s release, but was desperately worried about his brother Irfan Ali, 22, who was kidnapped when he went out to run errands.
“Other poor Pakistanis should be helped in the same way as the authorities helped that British family,” Masroor told AFP.
“We searched for him the whole night. I inquired about him from relatives and searched hospitals but didn’t find him. Then we lodged a report with the police about his disappearance,” he said.
The next day, the family received an anonymous call demanding five million rupees (59,500 dollars) for his release.
“That call was a bombshell for the family, for our mother in particular. We were helpless as the amount was far beyond our reach,” he said.
Police apparently believe kidnappers are holding Irfan somewhere in thick forest in northern Sindh province, leaving police “helpless” in accessing what has become a virtual no-go area for law enforcement authorities.
“The whole family is extremely disturbed, but I have put all my savings together and borrowed from relatives to make it one million rupees. I believe Allah will help me in getting my brother released soon.”
In the northwestern city of Peshawar, Tariq Ali’s 15-year-old son was kidnapped last August but he is still without news.
“Our rulers don’t consider the children of Pakistani citizens human beings. They don’t act promptly as they do if a foreigner goes missing,” said Ali, who owns a bakery.
His son Hashim Ali, a student in ninth grade was kidnapped in broad daylight just after leaving home for a nearby playground.
“I’ve submitted applications to every government office ranging from the governor to the inspector general of police but nothing has happened.
“But if a child with another nationality gets kidnapped in Pakistan then they do the maximum and even visit their homes,” Ali said.
“They don’t even ask about locals and Pakistanis who are being kidnapped every day. I have lost zest for life without my son but nobody cares,” said Ali, the wrinkles on his face deepening into furrows.
Source: Dawn
Power in Pakistan resides with socio-economic class, mullahs and military. Everyone else can go to hell!
Kidnapping menace
Dawn Editorial
Thursday, 18 Mar, 2010
Journalists gather during a news conference given by regional police chief Aslam Tarin near the compound of the family residence of five-year-old British boy Sahil Saeed in Jhelum. Saeed, who was kidnapped nearly two weeks ago while on vacation in Pakistan, was freed unharmed by his abductors on Tuesday, after a ransom was paid, officials said, ending a high-profile ordeal. –Reuters Photo
That young Sahil Saeed, the British national kidnapped from Jhelum about two weeks ago, was freed unharmed on Tuesday is cause for great relief. While it is unclear whether ransom was paid, the local police claim that they piled enough pressure on the abductors to force the child’s release.
The authorities say that efforts are under way to trace the kidnappers and establish their identity, and it is hoped that they will be brought to justice. However, the relatively speedy recovery of Sahil is an indictment of local law-enforcement authorities in terms of the hundreds of other kidnapping cases that remain unresolved.
Sahil’s nationality and the focused attention of the international media led to cooperation being offered by the Greater Manchester Police of Britain and diplomatic channels. Other such victims and their families are not so fortunate. In the first two months of this year alone, 240 people were kidnapped across the country; only 74 have so far been recovered. While not all are kidnappings for ransom, the onus remains on the law-enforcement agencies to trace the victims and bring the perpetrators of the crimes to justice. Most of the families of children and adults who have been missing for far longer than Sahil have neither diplomatic support nor pledges of assistance. They deserve similar attention from the government and law-enforcement authorities.
There is also another angle to be considered: kidnapping for ransom is one of the methods used by the terrorist network to raise funds. The tactic has been used by suspected religious extremists in the abduction cases of Satish Anand, Shaukat Afridi and Aqeel Haji, for example. It is likely that it is similarly being used by criminal and proscribed outfits in other parts of the country. Resolving kidnapping cases must therefore be considered a priority in terms of reducing crime levels as well as dismantling the terrorist infrastructure.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/14-kidnapping-menace-830-zj-10