New Delhi/ Islamabad: Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday said that India has taken up the issue of two missing Indian clerics with Pakistan.
Two Indian clerics, including the head priest of Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah and his nephew, went missing in Pakistan recently.
The minister stated that both Syed Asif Nizami and his nephew Nazim Nizami went missing after they landed at Karachi airport and Pakistan government has been requested for an update on both the Indian nationals.
“We have taken up this matter with Government of Pakistan and requested them for an update on both the Indian nationals in Pakistan. Both are missing after they landed in Karachi airport,” tweeted Ms Swaraj.
Syed Asif Nizami (80) is the head priest (Sajjadanashin) of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Dargah in Delhi. “Indian nationals Syed Asif Nizami aged 80 years and his nephew Nazim Ali Nizami had gone to Pakistan on 8 March 2017,” Ms Swaraj said.
The two had gone to visit the famous Daata Darbar shrine in Lahore and were to catch a flight from there to Karachi on Wednesday.
The clerics had gone to Karachi to meet their relatives on March 8 before travelling to Lahore to visit the shrine. Exchanges between clerics of the Nizamuddin Dargah and the Daata Darbar are part of a regular tradition. Meanwhile, Pakistan on Friday said it was looking into the matter.
Reports said Mr Niazmi was visiting his ailing sister in Karachi after many years while Nazim Ali Nazimi keeps visiting their relatives in Pakistan and Sufi shrines in the country annually.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office confirmed that the Indian high commission had requested the country’s officials for help. It added that all the relevant agencies were looking into the matter of the missing clerics.
