The son of slain Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Taseer, who was recently rescued by Pakistani security forces recounted the torture meted out to him during his confinement, in an interview to BBC Urdu.
The 33-year-old was held captive by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) for nearly five years.
Recounting the brutal treatment meted out to him, Taseer said he was not given food for days, and had no medical treatment while he was suffering from malaria. Once, his captors had even stitched his mouth.
They used to flog me. I was flogged about 500 times in three days, then they cut my back with blades and removed nails from my hands and feet. They used to torture me for making films and used to tell me their plans in advance. They would tell me that they will remove my nails tomorrow. I used to pray the whole night.
Shahbaz was abducted close to seven months after his father was killed by his own police guard Mumtaz Qadri for seeking reforms in Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws.
He was recovered by the Pakistan Army from a hotel on the outskirts of Kuchlak town in Quetta in March after being abducted in 2011 from Lahore.
Taseer was initially kept in Mirali area of North Waziristan and then moved to the Dattakhel area in the same district. Later, he was moved to Afghanistan by the Taliban who held him captive.
He said differences cropped up between IMU and Taliban over the issue of allegiance with ISIS.
Following the dispute, Afghan Taliban attacked the Uzbeks and eliminated their whole group – their leadership. For three days, only death lived there.
Without revealing much about his release, Taseer said that he travelled on a motorbike for eight days from Afghanistan to reach Pakistan’s Kuchlak area.
Just 10 days before Shahbaz was rescued, his father’s killer Qadri was hanged on 29 February at Adiala Jail Rawalpindi after President Mamnoon Hussain rejected his mercy plea.
(With PTI inputs)
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