Academic and activist Dr Ammar Ali Jan was picked up from his home at four in the morning on Saturday by the Gulberg police.
In a facebook post made from his account soon after his arrest, Dr Jan said that an FIR had been lodged against him and that he was under arrest at the Gulberg police station.
“I am under arrest at the Gulberg police station. There is an FIR against me for participating at the protest in Liberty against the killing of Professor Arman Loni” he wrote on his social media account.
“The police raided my house at 4 am to arrest me. I am a law-abiding citizen and will not be deterred in the fight for justice.”
The FIR registered against Dr Jan says that “Dr Ammar leading a group from FC College was present at liberty round-about with 100-150 protestors of the Pashtun Ittehad Movement which had blocked roads and traffic on the call of Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen.”
The protest had been part of the many such demonstrations organised all over the country including in Quetta, Islamabad and Lahore over the death of senior Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Arman Loni who allegedly died in an “extra-judicial killing” during a sit-in in Balochistan’s Loralai.
The FIR goes on to say that the protestors were using a loudspeaker to chant slogans against “agencies and also some important personalities.”
It went on to name Advocate Nisar Safdar, Mister Riaz, Saeed Areeb, and Zahire Baloch along with Dr Jan had been making inflammatory speeches against state institutions on loudspeakers and had been disturbing the peace. The FIR was registered under the Punjab sound system act of 2015.
Earlier, scores of PTM workers including senior leader Abdullah Nangyal and activist Gulalai Ismail were also arrested outside the National Press Club in Islamabad during a similar protest.
The arrest of Dr Jan has resulted in great outcry among his academic colleagues and different activists.
Can @ImranKhanPTI pls explain his govt s policy of registering FIR s on peaceful protestors and resisting it on murder accusations. This can’t be the Naya Pakistan that we were promised. Are these people really the threat that this country needs to be protected from https://t.co/p8co3rxDoj
— Hina R Khar (@HinaRKhar) February 9, 2019
Ammar Ali Jan—PhD from Cambridge returned to #Pakistan do teach at public sector universities, engage with students&campaign for social justice. Was a)fired b)maligned c)arrested & now d) booked in cases for ATTENDING A PROTEST!
Citizens wanting a better country are NOT suspects. pic.twitter.com/wdPhtFrDKy— Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) February 9, 2019
سچا اور بہادر آدمی pic.twitter.com/Q4jnoFY3Xa
— Mubashir Zaidi (@MubashirZaidi) February 9, 2019
If you think this is a gang of robbers or monsters breaking into someone’s house, you your mistaken. This is the police breaking into #AmmarJan‘s house.
Shameless! #ReleaseAmmarJan pic.twitter.com/4lFljVgjUY
— Aima Khosa (@aimaMK) February 9, 2019
For nearly 71 years, the moral and intellectual compass of the Pakistani state has been determined by barely-BA pass geniuses rather than humanist academics like Dr. Ammar Jan. #ReleaseAmmarJan https://t.co/zDdjyJ0p3R
— Umair Javed (@umairjav) February 9, 2019
#AmmarAliJan a dear friend and a committed political worker has been picked up from his house by the police in a raid. This is unacceptable. Ammar is an academic, a historian & a scholar from Cambridge university. Annan should be released at once #ReleaseAmmarAliJan
— Tooba Syed (@Tooba_Sd) February 9, 2019
One of these is a killer.
One of these is a PhD from Cambridge University.
Which one is treated like an asset for Pakistan?
Which one is being persecuted and now arrested by Pakistan for being a peaceful advocate of people’s fundamental rights? #FreeAmmarAliJan pic.twitter.com/Tcxh23GtlH
— Mosharraf Zaidi (@mosharrafzaidi) February 9, 2019
Ammar Ali Jan Taken Into Custody By Lahore Police. Ammar was arrested for participating in a protest against killing of #ArmanLuni of PTM. Ammar is also leading #ShehriTahaffuzMarch in Lahore on 10 Feb against police brutality and extra judicial killings https://t.co/42Ezc4TIA0
— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) February 9, 2019
