Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday expressed deep concern over the disappearance of Sarmad Sultan, a social media activist, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In a tweet, Bilawal Bhutto said the disappearance of a literate man like Sarmad Sultan who could talk about social issues was a question mark over the ability of the government to protect such persons.

He said it was unfortunate that the government had yet not taken any step for the recovery of Sarmad Sultan. 

https://twitter.com/MediaCellPPP/status/1378216761812643843

Bilawal said freedom of speech was no crime. “Voices of dissent are not stifled in any civilized society,” he commented. 

He urged the authorities to take steps for the immediate recovery of Sarmad Sultan. 

A social media activist, Sarmad Sultan, who used to tweet about history and politics, has mysteriously gone missing. His Twitter account with 40k followers was also taken down.

Sarmad Sultan, a resident of District Attock, did his MSC in mathematics, masters in philosophy and Urdu and also has an interest in history.

Earlier, PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz had alleged that Sarmad was ‘picked up’ for his views. In a tweet, she said that this system where people with alternative views are abducted in broad daylight is precisely what she is fighting.

https://twitter.com/MaryamNSharif/status/1377930025304002561

Journalists and activists have also condemned Sultan’s disappearance and called on the authorities to recover him.

https://twitter.com/HamidMirPAK/status/1378233926695591938

 

Reporter Azad Nehryo