Pakistan PM Appears Before Court in Missing Persons Case, Imran Khan Demands Equal Justice

People vanishing in mysterious circumstances - primarily Baloch and Pashtuns - has been a long-standing issue in Pakistan. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan had planned to introduce legislation to tackle the problem just months before he was ousted from power in April.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appeared before the Islamabad High Court on Friday, vowing to reunite thousands of families with their relations who have been missing for years.

The court had summoned the premier in the case which had been filed by human rights activists.

"Missing persons [will] reunite with their families, I assure you," Shehbaz said before the court after Chief Justice Athar Minallah described the matter as a "major issue".

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), more than 1,100 people from the Balochistan province and over 1,400 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Imran Khan's stronghold, have gone missing or have been "subjected to forcible disappearance".

Many Baloch, Pakhtun, and Sindhi nationalists have been missing for decades, although Baloch activists said the number could be higher as family members stopped registering cases.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Imran Khan has slammed the judiciary for being biased to the poor, emphasizing that no country could prosper without implementing laws ensuring equality.

"The rich are not being apprehended for their wrongdoings, but the poor are languishing in jails over minor crimes," Khan said.

Khan's statement came hours after the Islamabad High Court decided to indict the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman in contempt of court proceedings for making "threatening" remarks to a woman judge on 20 August during a public rally. The court will bring charges against Khan on 22 September.