Daily Diary (DD) - Day 147 of 2023

2036hrs:

A lot is cooking. One of our close aides and co-citizen extraordinaire Israr Ahmed s/o Muhammad Riyasat was picked up by 'some men' - accompanied by the local police - in the middle of the night (reported to be c. 0100hrs) from his home, while sleeping with his family.

It emerged that he was picked up for criticising or mocking the Pakistani army's attempts to generate public solidarity in Dadyaal yesterday.

Stiff reaction came in the morning from the public and from Israr Ahmed's political party - JKLF - in particular.

Consequently and post 'arrest' a document was circulated to the public via the district magistrate's office in Mirpur that Israr Ahmed had been arrested under 16 MPO (Maintenance of Public Order) and would be detained at Mirpur central jail for 30 days. Further, that the order could be judicially challenged.

It should be clear that - from past experience - if the public had not made a timely intervention on Israr's nocturnal abduction, he would probably be declared missing indefinitely. 

Public pressure ensured that the location of Israr's detention became clear and that legal remedy was available. 

The Pakistani military should not make the mistake of considering this territory to be like their own. They should also refrain from exporting Pakistan's political instability into this territory. It is ridiculous that they feel the need to force our public to come out onto the streets, in solidarity with them. 

The above are some of the concerns cited by our public.

The following is the public statement penned by myself in the morning, upon being notified about Israr Ahmed's abduction:

English:

In any society of humans the rule of law and due course of legality is inescapable. 

Roman Urdu:

Insaano ke kisi bhi ma-asharey me qanoon ki baala dasti aur qanooni tarteeb (due course of legality) na guzeer hay. 

E: 

Abducting any citizen of AJK from his or her home in the middle of the night is akin to declaring war on the public of AJK...

RU:

Kisi AJK ke shehri ko raat ko us ke ghar se aghwa karna yaha ki awaam se ilaan e jang ke mutaraadif hay...

E:

The Geneva Convention applies in a conflict zone and the Pakistani State has broken international law in this State.

RU:

Conflict zone me Geneva Convention apply karta hay aur Pakistan ki State ne international law ki khilaaf warzi ki hay is riyasat me. 

E:

We make an ethical request that they immediately produce Israr in Dadyaal courts and explain to the judge details of what allegations have been made.

RU:

Un se akhlaaqi quzaarish hay ke wo Israr ko filfor Dadyaal ki adaalat me pesh karey aur judge ke saamney wazaahat karey ke Israr ke khilaaf kya kya ilzamaat hain.

E:

Advice is being sought from international legal experts and diplomats.

RU:

Is case par bain ul aqwami qanooni maahireen aur sifaaratkaro se bhi mashaawarat jaari hay.

E:

If Israr is not produced in Dadyaal courts then we will advocate for sanctions against Pakistan.

RU:

Agar Israr Dadyaal ki adaalat me pesh nahi kiya gaya to hum Pakistan ke khilaaf sanctions ke liye advocacy karengey.

....

Here are a couple of relevant posts:

Israr Ahmed's party leader Toqeer Gilani also gave a statement of condemnation over his arrest:

However, most notable of all was the roadblock in Dadyaal conducted by Israr's JKLF colleagues at the bypass junction in Amb:

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