ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani writer and activist said that she fears for her life after being briefly abducted from a military cantonment in the city of Lahore on June 5, an incident that triggered national outrage and saw fingers pointed at the powerful armed forces.
Gul Bukhari, a harsh critic of the military and its alleged meddling in politics, said there was an atmosphere of “fear and intimidation” in the media and politics in the run-up to Pakistan’s July 25 general election.
“I feel very insecure. I have restricted my son’s movement. I worry every time my husband or I go out,” Bukhari said, adding that she now often sends live updates on her whereabouts via WhatsApp to a friends and family group.
The military has denied playing any role in Bukhari’s disappearance.
“We have nothing to do with it,” said Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor.
He added that the incident should be investigated.
The ISPR DG’s office did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment about accusations that the army was stifling the media.
Since Bukhari’s abduction, there have been mounting complaints from media houses and journalists about being muzzled by threats of physical and financial retribution against those who cross “red lines” in reporting about the military.
Bukhari declined to go into details of her ordeal, in which she was dragged from her car and hooded before assailants dropped her back at her house four hours later.
She told Reuters her abduction could be “viewed within that context” of intimidation ahead of this month’s election.
She said she has asked the police to offer her security but none has been provided.
When contacted by Reuters, police had no immediate comment.
After Bukhari’s disappearance, many blamed the military.
A driver who was transporting her to a local TV station’s studio at the time told colleagues afterwards that men in army uniforms stood guard while others in plainclothes dragged her from the car.
Bukhari, a dual Pakistani-British national, credits her release to swift coverage by international media outlets and a ferocious social media backlash inside Pakistan, which saw politicians and rights activists across the political spectrum voice their outrage about her disappearance on Twitter.
She said her abduction had nonetheless sent a message that “nobody is untouchable, no one is immune” ahead of polls.
“It was very audacious, it was very visible,” she said.
“If there was a sense of fear, now it is complete and now there is not just sense of fear, it’s panic,” she added.
A day before Bukhari’s abduction, Major General Ghafoor told a news conference that the military was aware of those making or re-tweeting “anti-state” comments on social media.
He then displayed a web chart with names and pictures of many prominent journalists and TV personalities.
Bukhari was not on the list.
