Islamabad/ New Delhi, March 17: The Pakistan Foreign Office on Friday confirmed that a request had been received from India seeking assistance in tracing two clerics who went missing after visiting Lahore’s Data Darbar.
Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said the request had been received and forwarded to the Interior Ministry, who are pursuing the matter.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that she has spoken to the Pakistani authorities about the two clerics.
“Indian nationals Syed Asif Ali Nizami, 80, and his nephew Nazim Ali Nizami went to Pakistan on March 8,” she tweeted.
“We have taken up this matter with the government of Pakistan and requested them for an update.”
Head cleric Asif Nizami and Nazim Nizami went missing in Pakistan, during their visit to Lahore’s Data Darbar. The clerics have been missing since Wednesday.
Exchanges between clerics of Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi, and the Data Darbar are part of a regular tradition.
According to the family of the clerics, the duo was set to fly to Karachi on Wednesday, and while Asif was allowed to board, Nazim was stopped at Lahore airport on grounds of incomplete documents.
“My father Syed Asif Ali Nizami, 80, and his nephew Nazim Nizami, 60, went missing from Lahore and Karachi airports, respectively, on Wednesday evening,” Asif’s elder son Sazid Ali Nizami told IANS.
He said that his father and cousin went to Karachi in Pakistan on March 6 from where they visited Lahore on March 13 to offer “Chadar” at Baba Farid’s shrine, the master of Baba Nizamuddin.
“On March 14, they offered another Chadar at Data Darbar Sufi shrine in Lahore. The next day they reached at Lahore airport to take a flight for Karachi at 4.30 p.m. At the Lahore airport my cousin was stopped by the airport authorities to clear some documentation and my father was asked to board the flight.
“My father reached Karachi airport at 6 p.m. but my cousin could not join him. At the airport my father talked to my relatives on phone and informed them to come outside, but he did not come,” Sazid said.
Sazid further said that my father and cousin’s mobile phones were also switched off.
(IANS)
