Ex-Pak armyman seeks reassessment of role of ISI, secret agencies

A former Pakistani soldier has moved court seeking a reassessment of the role of secret agencies in the country, including the Inter-Services Intelliegence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI).

Naik Mohammad Iqbal, who claimed that he was picked up and brutally tortured, filed an application in the Supreme Court Monday seeking the constitution of a parliamentary committee to reassess the role of the secret agencies, the highly regarded Dawn newspaper reported.

Iqbal, who was picked up by the intelligence agencies Nov 27, 2004, when his battalion was posted in Leepa Front in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, claimed that his detention was kept such a secret that even his family was not informed.

He claimed that he was initially kept in Muzaffarabad Fort in solitary confinement for two years and was subjected to brutal torture so that he could confess to crimes he had not committed. Later he was moved to a torture cell in Rawalpindi within the vicinity of General Headquarters (GHQ), he said.

Iqbal's lawyer Inamul Raheem said his client was never informed about the charges against him, according to the paper.

Iqbal said, after his family was made to believe that he had disappeared from his unit without notice, he was dumped in front of his home one midnight in 2008, badly injured and almost blind.

"The petitioner was totally crippled and became disabled and instead of any treatment he was thrown in a black hole type dungeon to die without any treatment and care," the Dawn report quoted the court application as stating.

According to Iqbal, a reassessment of the role of secret agencies by a parliamentary committee will help help check crippling of young soldiers and recovery of mutilated bodies of people.

He asked the court to hold responsible the entire chain of command, including corps commanders, directors general of ISI and the MI and former president Pervez Musharraf, for illegally allowing the intelligence agencies to use draconian methods to suppress others for personal gains.

According to Iqbal, he was entitled to full pay along with allowances during the trial and medical attention.

He also said that at the behest of of the secret agencies, his unit wrote him off and the brigade commander and the general officer commanding never thought of taking care of his wife.

In his application, he also sought free medical treatment.