ISLAMABAD-
Uzma Qayyum, the 26-year-old girl who is allegedly detained at Lal Masjid-affiliated Jamia Hafsa girls madrassa against her will, appeared before a sessions court on Thursday and said she did not want to return to her family.
The girl was accompanied in the courtroom by Umme Hassan, head of the seminary and wife of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz, as well as other men and women from the seminaries.
The court then ordered her to appear again on Jan 20.
Through the court’s intervention, Uzma’s father, Sheikh Muhammad Qayyum, was finally able to meet his daughter after seven months.
Emotional scenes were witnessed as court officials tried to convince Uzma to return home, while the girl’s father claimed that she has been ‘brainwashed’ by the Lal Masjid clerics.
High Court Advocate Haider Imtiaz, who is representing Qayyum, told reporters that although the girl appeared before court, she was accompanied by a number of people who appeared to be associated with Jamia Hafsa, which was why she has been summoned again.
Qayyum said that as soon as the hearing began, the judge instructed Umme Hassan, her associates and his family to leave the courtroom. The judge then spoke to Uzma, in the presence of court staff, for about half an hour. He then proceeded to invite her mother inside the courtroom and fifteen minutes later, he was also asked to join them as well.
“As we were meeting our daughter after so many months, it was a very emotional scene and everyone had tears in their eyes. During our meeting, the judge and court staff all urged Uzma to return to her family. They said that no one could take the place of one’s parents and Islam also taught us to obey their wishes,” he said.
Qayyum said that the family also tried to convince Uzma to come back to them, but in vain.
“It seems that Umme Hassan has brainwashed my daughter. The judge offered to have her sent to the Darul Amaan or to a relative’s house, but my daughter refused. She repeatedly said that she wanted to go back to Jamia Hafsa,” he said.
The court then ordered that Uzma’s statement to be recorded on Jan 20. Her father said that he would again try to convince her to return home at the next hearing. Qayyum alleged that during the hearing, Umme Hassan was in constant contact with someone on her mobile phone.
On Wednesday, Umme Hassan had told reporters that no one from Jamia Hafsa would accompany the girl to the hearing on Thursday and she would have no objections if the girl chose to return to her family.
On December 29, 2014, Qayyum had filed an application with the Human Rights Cell (HRC) of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to have his daughter recovered from Jamia Hafsa.
In his application, he alleged that his daughter was being held captive by the Jamia Hafsa administration on the premises of the seminary.
The Supreme Court had ordered Sessions Judge Nazir Ahmad Gujana to investigate the matter and submit a report. On Wednesday, the court had ordered Islamabad Police to produce the girl in court on Thursday.
