LAHORE, Aug 26: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed alarm at the abduction of Shahbaz Taseer, son of assassinated Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, and called upon the government to ensure his early and safe recovery.

In a statement issued on Friday, the commission said: “HRCP is alarmed by the abduction of Shahbaz Taseer that highlights government’s inability to afford security and protection even to those known to be at high risk.

“Such brazen crimes reflect a general deterioration of law and order and add to the sense of insecurity that people have now grown accustomed to. If those assigned special security are not safe from being snatched in broad daylight in the heart of the country’s second most populous city, the lot of the common person is not that difficult to imagine.

“While it is too early to speculate about abductors’ motives, HRCP calls upon the government to ensure that Shahbaz is recovered speedily and his abductors are held to account. It demands that rather than responding to crime after the fact, the government must invest its efforts and resources in preventing crime, irrespective of the victim’s identity.”

IMRAN: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chairman Imran Khan expressed his concern at the kidnapping and said both the federal and provincial governments had failed to maintain law and order leaving the citizens at the mercy of criminals.Talking to the media after sharing his concern with the Taseer family at their residence here on Friday, he said the beneficiaries of the NRO could not protect lives and property of the masses. He said a government that was not implementing Supreme Court verdicts could not maintain law and order.

He appealed to the abductors to free Shahbaz Taseer as his family members were already bearing the grief of Salmaan Taseer’s murder.

The Christian community meanwhile slammed the Punjab government for its failure to provide adequate security to the family of slain former governor that led to kidnapping of his son.

“We are of the opinion that had the Punjab government given protection to the family of slain governor Salmaan Taseer it would have averted abduction of his son. So we stand with the aggrieved family and demand that the Punjab government should take immediate steps to recover Shahbaz and expose those involved in his abduction,” Napolen Qayyum, a PPP (minority wing) central leader said in a press statement here on Friday.

He warned that the Christian community would stage nationwide protest rallies if the provincial administration failed to recover the kidnapped son of the late governor.

APML: The All Pakistan Muslim League’s Fawad Chaudhry and Javed Badar condemned the abduction and asked the Punjab government to recover him without any delay.

They said in a statement that the incident was the result of Shahbaz government’s pro-Taliban policies.

During his regime, they said that banned organizations were operating with immunity. They said Shahbaz Sharif had gone to Karachi to do point scoring and left his province at the mercy of kidnappers and criminals. They said the chief minister should resign after this incident.