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Man comes looking for father

DUBAI — Nearly 24 years ago, a Pakistani family lost contact with their bread-winner who worked in a Sharjah-based company.

Today, a young man has come to the UAE to look for clues to his father's disappearance.

Mohammed Rehan, who hails from Hyderabad, Pakistan, says his father Syed Mohammed Rasheed (then 48 years old) last visited Pakistan in 1983. "My father worked for Sharjah Shipyard and Engineering Works as a supervisor. After arriving in the UAE, I tried to get in touch with people from that company, but found that the company had shut down in 1986. Even the contact numbers have changed," said Rehan.

"I must have been six or seven years old when I last saw my father. He had come to Hyderabad on his annual, month-long vacation and appeared normal and loving as usual," Rehan recalled.

He also said that accounts of his last visit as described by his mother, Hazra Begum, also suggested that Mohammed Rasheed was financially stable and did not appear unusually disturbed.

"I cross-checked with my mother if there was any tiff between them. She said 'no'. But even if something happened, a man cannot suddenly cut off links with his children," said an exasperated Rehan.

Rehan said he took the initiative after discussing the details with his mother and decided to find out what happened to him. "I have to get in touch with the Pakistan Consulate and see if they have any information regarding this Pakistani national," he said.

He also said he had contacted Pakistani Human Rights Activist Ansar Burney two years ago, but to no avail.

"We do have one or two links to follow, such as Sharjah Immigration and the insurance company Alico. My father had been insured for $20,000," said Rehan. "But we need help from anyone who might have known him," he added.