Muqqasad’s wait is over: Hafizullah is not missing anymore

QUETTA: The human remains found in district Chaghai Balochistan on Thursday, September 10, 2020, have been identified as that of previously abducted Hafizullah Mohammad Hasani.

Pakistani forces abducted him from his home on August 30, 2016, and he remained disappeared until his remains [dead body] were found.

His family knocked all doors for justice including paying Rs 6.8 Million to a Pakistan army officer who assured them that Hafizullah will be released after he gets the money.

However, their efforts did not succeed because the army officer lied to them and took their money.

His aged mother and little daughter Muqqadas joined Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) protests at Quetta Press Club but no avail.  

After Hafizullah’s family exposed the Pakistan army official on media, he was arrested and jailed for ‘abuse of power’.

It is yet to be seen whether he’ll be charged with the murder of Hafizullah and whether the army will take action against many other members of armed forces involved in similar crimes in Balochistan.

Following is a detailed report by Mohammad Qazim for BBC Urdu

A three-year-old [dead] body was found in Dalbandin, the capital of Chaghi District, Balochistan, on Thursday. The family of Hafizullah Mohammad Hasani, a farmer who went missing four years ago from Balochistan, claims that it was his body.

According to Hafizullah Mohammad Hassani’s younger brother Nematullah, his brother had been missing since August 30, 2016.

Speaking to the BBC Urdu, Nematullah said he had identified his brother’s body by shoes, clothes tags and teeth, after which the hospital administration handed over the body to relatives for the last rituals and burial.

Nematullah said the law enforcement officials took Hafizullah from his home four years ago and later demanded a ransom of Rs. 6.8 million for his release, but he was not released despite the family paid the money to the Pakistani officer.

It may be recalled that according to the Pakistan Army, an officer was convicted in 2019 and sent to jail after being court-martialled.

Confirming the discovery of the body on Thursday, Dalbandin Tehsildar Saeed Zehri said he had received reports from locals that a man’s body had been found in the Pol Choto, a mountainous area about 60 km southeast of Dalbandin city.

He said the body was practically a skeleton with pieces of clothing as well as shoes. The body and other items were later shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital.

Dr Iqbal of the district headquarters Dalbandin told the BBC that the body was about three years old.

He said the man was shot dead and had three bullets in the chest and one bullet wound to the leg. Dr Iqbal said a bullet was attached to the body.

He said that after identifying the body, Hafizullah’s relatives requested him not to take any further action and they took the body with them without giving DNA samples.

Who was Hafizullah Mohammad Hassani?

Hafizullah Mohammad Hasani belonged to the Chaghi district of Balochistan. He was a resident of Killi Qasim in Dalbandin, the headquarters of Chaghi, and was a farmer by profession.

According to his younger brother Nematullah, Hafizullah was the eldest of three brothers and operated a tube well in the Chattar area near Dalbandin and cultivated the land.

After a two-and-a-half-year wait, Hafizullah’s female relatives also took part in a symbolic hunger strike camp in Quetta for a few days for his recovery. The camp is set up to recover the missing persons from Balochistan.

Hafizullah’s youngest daughter was also seen holding a picture of her father with her mother and grandmother during the protest.

How did Hafizullah’s relatives identify him?

Hafizullah’s younger brother, Nematullah, told the BBC by phone that they identified him by three things, including the remains of the body.

He said that the mark on Hafizullah’s teeth was the same as on the corpse’s teeth.

He said that a tag of the same tailor’s shop on the pieces of clothes lying next to his body was found from whom Hafizullah used to sew his clothes in Quetta.

The third sign was shoes, Nimatullah said. “The same shoes that Hafizullah used at the time of his disappearance were found with the body.”

Last month, four years after the enforced disappearance of Hafizullah Mohammad Hasani, the BBC spoke to Hafizullah’s mother.

“When a major of the security forces was convicted of Hafizullah’s enforced disappearance, I was convinced that his recovery would now be assured, but even a year later he was not recovered,” she said.

How did Hafizullah disappear?

Hafizullah’s younger brother, Nematullah, told a press conference in Quetta on August 20, four years after his disappearance, that his brother was allegedly whisked away by a major in Pakistan Army on August 30, 2016, from his home in Killin Qasim Khan.

He said family members thought his brother might have been taken away for questioning and would be released once the investigation was completed, but his whereabouts remained unknown for a long time.

He said that when his brother did not come home after a long time and he was not told where he was, the family’s concern increased and he contacted the [army] major.

According to Hafizullah, the Major demanded a large sum of money for his recovery.

Nematullah said that he had sold some of his properties and borrowed money from friends and relatives to collect the Rs. 6.8 million and paid it to the major.

He said that after paying the money, he was sure that his brother would be released but his recovery did not take place, after which he complained against the particular army official to his headquarter in Dalbandin.

An investigation was launched against the major and he was convicted, Nematullah Said.

The position of the Pakistan Army

The major was court-martialled after the allegations by Hafizullah’s family.

He was sentenced to life in prison for abuse of power during the Field General Court Martial.

A statement issued by the Army’s public relations arm, ISPR, in August 2019 said that Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had upheld the sentence of the Field General Court Martial.

“The armed forces are aware of their institutional accountability system, so this officer has been fired and sent to jail,” the statement said.