India presses Pak to trace missing Sufi clerics

 India on Friday continued to press Pakistan to trace the two clerics from the Nizamuddin Dargah of Delhi as more than 48 hours has passed since they disappeared.

“We have taken up this matter with the Government of Pakistan and requested them for an update on both the Indian nationals in Pakistan,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

New Delhi conveyed to Islamabad its concerns over disappearance of Syed Asif Ali Nizami and his nephew Nazim Ali Nizami when both of them were on a religious tour to Pakistan.

The Nizamuddin Dargah has a strong spiritual link with Data Darbar in Lahore. The clerics of Nizamuddin Dargah have visited Pakistan several times in the past.

“Indian nationals Syed Asif Ali Nizami aged 80 years and his nephew Nazim Ali Nizami had gone to Pakistan on 8 March 2017,” tweeted Sushma. Sources in New Delhi said that the clerics reached Lahore Airport together to catch a flight to Karachi.

Nazim Ali was asked to de-board the plane, while Asif Ali was allowed to fly to Karachi, sources in New Delhi said.

While Nazim Ali went missing from Lahore Airport, Asif Ali called up his family in Delhi from Karachi to inform about disappearance of his younger brother.

Asif Ali, too, could not be traced or contacted after he made the last call to Delhi from Karachi. Also missing is a Pakistani national who had come to receive Asif Ali at the Karachi Airport.