N the view of one learned judge of the Supreme Court`s recently formed constitutional bench, parliament holds the key to eliminating the scourge of enforced disappearances in Pakistan. In fact, a `whole-of-system` approach is needed to uproot this menace, as many well-meaning stakeholders have tried in the past to address this critical issue, with limited results. The bench was hearing petitions regarding enforced disappearances on Tuesday when the observation was made. As one amicus curiae told the court, at least 350 people have gone `missing` since the previous chief justice of Pakistan had in January asked the centre to give an undertaking, in writing, promising that no one would be detained without due process. Clearly, even the orders of the highest judge of the land have little value when it comes to ending this reprehensible practice. Powerful, unaccountable actors seem determined to undermine the law in this respect.

The sad reality is that a wide variety of people go `missing` in Pakistan. This long list includes political activists, nationalists, suspected militants, members of religious outfits, or anyone criticising the state too vocally. As this paper has always insisted, if the state has evidence of wrongdoing against a citizen, the latter needs to be produced in court instead of being `disappeared`. With regard to the observation that only parliament can end this practice, it must be said that along with the legislature, the executive, the courts, as well as the security establishment all have a part to play in eliminating enforced disappearances. Moreover, another observation from the bench was that the missing who return home do not divulge the details of their ordeal. Here, it should be underlined that, in most instances, it is fear for their safety as well as that of their families that compels missing persons, who are lucky enough to return, to keep their mouths closed. Can the state promise such persons that it will protect them if they agree to tell the whole truth? The fact is that the state needs to take bold steps to end this atrocious practice. Bodies such as the SC-mandated commission on enforced disappearances have failed to do away with the practice. The SC`s constitutional bench, therefore, along with other pillars of the state, should identify a roadmap for eliminating the practice of enforced disappearances in Pakistan.