PTM activist Gulalai Ismail released after PM’s intervention

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PakistanToday
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–Ismail thanks Shireen Mazari, Reham Khan, urges PM to order release of ’17 others’ 

 

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Gulalai Ismail was released from custody on Thursday on the intervention of Prime Minister Imran Khan after undergoing a 30-hour detention following a protest that took place outside Islamabad Press Club against the “extrajudicial killing” of a PTM activist in Loralai, Balochistan.

On Tuesday, police had detained scores of protesters, including PTM leaders Abdullah Nangyal and Pashteen Idrees, over their participation in a protest against the killing of Professor Arman Loni. Though Gulalai has been released, 17 of them are still in Adiala jail.

It may be noted that the PTM had issued a countrywide call for protests after one of its members, Arman Loni, was reportedly killed by police in a crackdown on a sit-in in Loralai.

Talking to a private media outlet, she said that she was first detained in a women’s police station in Islamabad. The next morning, she was shifted to a women’s hostel and then taken to the Aabpara police station, from where the arrested were taken to Adiala after a five-hour wait.

She tweeted: “Thank you PM Imran for ensuring my release. These were tedious 30 hours for my family. Please help to bring out our other 17 friends.”

“Only holding those accountable who are dismantling our constitutional rights can bring prosperity to this country. Stronger parliament, Stronger Pakistan!”

She also thanked Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari for her “tremendous efforts” in finding out where she was taken.

However, she reminded Mazari that “17 friends are still in custody and our constitutional rights are getting violating at the whim of unknown. We need a stronger parliament for the prosperity of Pakistan.”

Later, she updated her followers that though she was taken into detention for two days, she was not formally charged with anything.

“I wasn’t presented to the magistrate, not let to see my lawyer or family and till the last point, my family was misguided about my whereabouts,” she added.

“These things need to be answered and responsibility fixed. My family and loved ones went through hell. However, this was not the first kind of harassment I’ve faced. I’ve been put on the Exit Control List (ECL), not let to work, my career has been ruined. [I am] facing an inquiry in counter-terrorism department,” she further tweeted.

She alleged that she was detained because she has raised “simple questions as a citizen about the militarization of our society, have asked for peace, and have shown solidarity with PTM and refused to be used against it”.

She concluded that answer was needed for the “cold-blooded murder of Arman Loni” and why “protests condemning his murder were so unacceptable?”

Gulalai also thanked Reham Khan for her “consistent support”.

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