Daily Diary (DD) - Day 35 of 2019

0305hrs:

This is footage from yesterday afternoon outside Islamabad Press Club - Pakistan.

The speaker is Shafqat Inqalabi and this is a protest against the Pakistani State to not stoop so low as to deny a prisoner of conscience - since 2011 effectively - namely Baba Jaan from medical treatment requiring angiography, which is not available in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) apparently.

Earlier yesterday, Baba Jaan's dire situation received mention in a prominent Pakistani English daily.

This following photo and text compilation provides an accurate snapshot of his struggle:



Both Shafqat and our endangered prisoner Baba have featured on this blog before. Here are some links:

Baba Jaan

Baba's health in prison is seriously deteriorating

Open Letter Demanding the Release of Baba Jan Hunzai

Embarking on a journey to meet Baba in AJK

Shafqat Inqalabi

A petition for freedom, identity, economy and dignity from Gilgit Baltistan

The State vs The Activist

....

I'd been searching for this poem for years, ever since I heard it used in speeches of freedom fighters (public activists), in various parts of AJK. Here it is dedicated to the icon of freedom in J & K post 1947, Maqbool Bhat:

نہ سر جھکا کے جیئےنہ منہ چھپا کے جیئے
ستم گر کی نظروں سے نظریں ملا کر جئے
ہم اگر دو دن کم جیئے تو اس میں حیرت کیا
ہم ان کے ساتھ جیئے جو شمع جلآ کر جیئے pic.twitter.com/fVmmt68cbl

— آزادی میرا جنون (@pyara_kashmir) February 4, 2019

Translated thus:

I'm not one to bow my head and live - or to live with a hidden face
I live by staring eye to eye at the oppressor
If I live less a day or two, it should be of no surprise
I live with those whose days are spent in keeping the flame alight

...