Daily Diary (DD) - Day 20 of 2022

0328hrs:

Day 01 at Martyr's Square - Kotli - AJK

The land of Ratan Singh's descendants, adjacent to the 'Chatti Badshahat' of the Sikhs of Muzaffarabad and occupied by fellow affectees of the 1947 religious-based conflict in Jammu Kashmir & Allied took another horrible turn just after midnight.

Malik Waseem, his brother Naeem Malik, Naeem's son Asad and their maternal nephew Saad, 4 womenfolk and 3 children of their household were brutally manhandled by the police and taken away. For a while it wasn't clear where they had been taken.

An hour or so later it emerged that the women had been taken to a shelter while Malik Waseem's whereabouts have not been established yet (0405hrs). He had initially also been taken to the police station but then taken elsewhere (so we thought) but it became clear later in the evening that he had evaded arrest and remained 'underground' till he could obtain bail, unknown to the rest of us.  

The land of Ratan Singh's descendants, adjacent 2 the #ChattiBadshahat of the #SikhsofMuzaffarabad & occupied by fellow affectees of the 1947 religious-based conflict n #JKA took another horrible turn just after midnight. Refugees of #Kupwara were arrested #JusticeForMalikWaseem pic.twitter.com/FH4gz2mxK5

— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) January 19, 2022

KFD TV in the UK is also alert on this matter and communication is being established with the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland:

Today's newspapers are also following the story:

I finally got to sleep at around 0700hrs....only to be woken up by a phone call at 1030hrs.....I am getting late for my midday appointment at Shaheed Chowk Kotli. Malik Waseem is still missing soon after being arrested just beyond midnight. The womenfolk of his family have been forced by the police into a refugee shelter (reliving 1947 yet again, despite 3 generations on). Meanwhile, a tussle between the Indian and Pakistani influences on JKA are zeroing in on this issue.

I reached Kotli at about 1500hrs, 3 hours later than I wanted to. Almost immediately a steady trickle of activists began visiting me but we first needed to clean our working space. The litter here is testament to the title of the following video. People who feel a sense of ownership over any land or property do not ignore garbage in their midst:

Once that operation was out of the way, we could sit down and begin interacting....

1851hrs (Update):

Indeed, it has transpired that Malik Waseem evaded arrest last night and is still at large but concealed on his own volition. The police have charged him, his elder brother Naeem Malik and Naeem's son Asad with Section 341 (obstructing a path apparently). The latter 2 are in police custody while the womenfolk of his family have been put in a refugee shelter in Jalalabad, Muzaffarabad. Waseem's parents are at a friend's house. Apologies for any misunderstanding.

I described the following picture as, 'Preparing for the twilight zone in Shaheed Chowk -  Kotli'

2100hrs (Update):

Message from Malik Waseem: "I have been arrested despite bail order and am at Thana (police station) Saddar (Muzaffarabad). I have begun a hunger strike till release."

Upon request by some students who came to visit me in the evening, I gave my first 'Public Policy Workshop' lecture at the stroke of midnight: