Thirteen years after her husband’s forced abduction at the hands of Pakistan’s security forces, the wife of Engineer Naveed Butt tells 5Pillars his harrowing story and explains how her entire family have been left in limbo.
“My life was destroyed and my dreams were shattered,” says Advocate Sadia Rahat.
Sadia remembers the details of what happened on Friday 11th of May 2012 like it was yesterday, but the pain of her forced separation from her husband seems like a lifetime.
“On Friday the 11th of May 2012, at around 12.29pm, before jumu’ah prayer time, as soon as my husband parked his car in front of our gate on Link Road, Model Town, Lahore, three vehicles suddenly surrounded his car from three sides.
“Ten to fifteen armed men got out of the vehicles. Some of these men were in plain clothes while others were wearing black uniforms with the words ‘Security’ printed on their backs.
“When our next door neighbour tried to step forward to see what was going on, these gun-wielding men ordered him to stay away. The armed men then grabbed my husband from his car and pulled him out, slightly hitting his head on the roof of his car.
“‘Butt Sahib’, said the armed men, ‘you need to come with us’. My husband said ‘Okay’ and threw his keys back into his car, onto the driver’s seat. The gun-toting men then pushed my husband into one of their vehicles and drove off. The whole incident took two to three minutes, and Naveed was gone.
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“I was upstairs in our house, with my youngest child, when my children rushed in to tell me about what had just happened. Then the next door neighbour came into our house to hand me the car keys and asked me if we had any enemies. I replied ‘no, we do not have any enmity with anyone’.
“I knew that Naveed had received threatening phone calls as well as information that he was being followed wherever he went. But this had always been the case ever since he became the spokesman of a political party, Hizb ut-Tahrir Pakistan.”
The missing
Enforced disappearances in Pakistan, often referred to as “missing persons” cases, involve individuals being detained by state forces or their agents without acknowledgment, leaving them outside legal protections and families in distress.
According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, thousands of families of Pakistan’s disappeared people are living in a state of perpetual trauma. Mothers, fathers, wives and siblings often protest for years, holding the pictures of their loved ones, hoping for any information about their whereabouts
The disappearances reportedly began during General Pervez Musharraf’s military rule (1999–2008), escalating after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the War on Terror. The practice has persisted under subsequent governments.
The military and intelligence agencies, particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), have used disappearances to suppress dissent, target suspected militants and silence activists.
Many disappeared individuals face torture, and some are found dead with signs of severe abuse. Families endure prolonged anguish, often protesting for years with photos of their loved ones. Socio-economic barriers limit their access to legal recourse.
Some individuals are eventually released, often after detention in secret facilities or internment centres.
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED), established in 2011, has resolved around 5,000 of 7,000 cases by tracing individuals, but it has been criticised for failing to hold perpetrators accountable.
Authorities often claim missing persons have joined militant groups like the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or died attempting illegal migration to Europe. And some disappearances are attributed to separatist militants wearing military uniforms, complicating accountability.
‘The best father and husband’
For the last thirteen years, life has not been easy for Advocate Sadia Rahat. As well as facing financial hardship and the trials of raising a young family in Pakistan, she has been campaigning tirelessly for the release and safe return of her husband.
“You can very well imagine how painful and traumatic it was for me and my children, who watched their beloved father being dragged away by armed men, in front of their eyes. All because my husband is a sincere da’wah carrier, a person who loves Muslims across the world and cannot keep quiet while they are being oppressed.”
Sadia recalls the final moments that she spent with her husband.
“In the morning, he dropped off our kids at school and came back for breakfast. I remember we were talking about the deteriorating situation of Syria at that time as we were mourning the 20,000 deaths that had occurred in Syria up until then. He took a shower and started to get ready for jumu’ah. Before jumu’ah, he had to pick up our kids from school and drop them back at home. So he went to pick up our kids.
“At that time, my eldest son was ten years old. The middle son was nine and our daughter was six years old. Our youngest was just two years old. Naveed brought back our kids from school, stopping the car at a bakery on the way back to buy some chips for the children. He would always do such things to make the kids happy. Naveed was the best father and the best husband anyone could ask for. We miss him dearly.”
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Engineer Naveed Butt was the official spokesman of the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which was banned in Pakistan in 2004 by the country’s then military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf. Military sources in Pakistan say that HT is banned in Pakistan because the party tries to influence serving army officers in order to bring about a change in the ruling system.
Whilst many people have helped and supported the family during their time of anguish, Sadia notes that some people have been too afraid to be seen to be standing with her family.
But she balks at the idea that her husband was somehow involved in activities that were anti-Pakistan or anti-state. “They have no evidence of Naveed’s involvement in any violent or anti-state activity to present in court. That is why they abducted him.
“Naveed and his party never take up arms against the state or endorse any violent actions. In fact, they believe that taking up arms against the current governments is unlawful and haraam.”
Thirteen long years have passed but Sadia says that she still worries for the health and welfare of her husband. This is partly because prior to his abduction, he had been feeling quite unwell.
“Naveed had been very ill for the last few months [before his abduction]. He had been going through the worst form of typhoid. He had fever and was feeling very weak. He was on a special diet and was taking medicines.”
Searching for justice
Over the last decade, Sadia has approached every court of law, every NGO and every influential person who would listen to her, in order to get her husband released. She says that the veteran campaigner Amina Masood Janjua of DHRPK (Defence of Human Rights Pakistan) is someone who has always stood by her and supported her efforts to get justice for her husband.
Sadia says that everyone knows who is behind the abduction and on-going illegal detention of Naveed Butt.
“It is Pakistan’s intelligence agencies who are involved in my husband’s abduction,” she says, showing us an official letter issued by the ‘Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances’ in Pakistan. The letter states explicitly that Naveed Butt ‘was picked up and taken away by the personnel of the Secret Establishment and is held in their illegal detention’.”
The same letter, dated 4th of January 2018, directs the intelligence agencies to produce Naveed Butt before the court within a period of five weeks, failing which, the letter adds, “proceedings will be initiated [against the concerned agencies] in accordance with the law.”
But to this day, Naveed Butt has neither been produced before the courts nor have any proceedings been initiated against any government agency.
“I have no hope from the courts and the current legal system of Pakistan”, says an emotional Sadia. “We have been pursuing the legal battle for years but have been tossed here and there like a football. Currently, our case is pending before Islamabad High Court since 2020, with no end in sight. My only hope is from Allah Suhana wa Ta’ala. Only He (SWT) can bring back Naveed safely to us. Only He (SWT) can put mercy in the hearts of the people that are holding my husband.”
And to the people holding her husband, Advocate Sadia Rahat says: “You think that you are detaining some very important enemy of yours. Well, you are completely wrong. Naveed loves Pakistan and its armed forces. He is a person who wants to see your honour and dignity restored as the spy agencies of the great and powerful Muslim nation.
“He is calling towards the political union of the Muslim lands and asking you to re-establish the Khilafah Rashidah on the method of Prophethood. Pakistan is a nation that was created in the name of Islam and this is the only way to guarantee its security and prosperity and to grant it a leadership role in the world.”
And to the people of Pakistan and Muslims around the world, Advocate Sadia Rahat also has a message: “I request you all for prayers for the safe return of my husband. We need your dua’as more than ever. This has been a very long and dark night for us and it must come to an end now. Wherever you are, please keep raising your voice for his release and safe return on every forum and everywhere.”
