Families protest outside parliament

ISLAMABAD: The families of the nuclear scientists, presently detained by the law enforcement agencies for debriefing on nuclear issues, staged a peaceful demonstration outside Parliament House on Wednesday for the early release of their family members.

Dozens of family members including women and children were holding placards inscribed with slogans against the government for doubting the patriotism of their family heads. They also shouted slogans demanding the early release of the detainees.

They alleged that the government was harassing the scientists at the behest of the United States.

The protesting families told journalists that they were still unaware as to whether the detained persons were alive or not and added that they were kept completely ignorant of the whereabouts of the detainees. Ms Islamul Haq, wife of the one of the detained scientists, said that she met KRL Chairman Javed Mirza and asked about her husband, but he was also unaware of his whereabouts and feared that he himself would be detained for debriefing. She refuted the government’s claim that the majority of the detained scientists had been released. She added that none of the government officials had contacted any of the scientists, families.

Senators of various political parties visited the demonstration site and assured the aggrieved families that they would raise the issue in the Senate. —Staff Report

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