More stories forthcoming…..
Testimony from an Anonymous Protestor in Islamabad.
The author made this following video and has been harassed/ surveilled by the local police along with fellow protestors.
Early morning on May 15 many of us received a message from a friend. We receive these occasionally and usually they are intended as a set of instructions for an upcoming, a “dharna” or a “jalsa”. I find them quite useful since, most if not all of the time, the message contains accurate information about venue, time, route etc. Many of us are now “serial protestors” and have an instinctive understanding of the likelihood of violence. I must say here that at the dozens of such events that I have attended, I have never felt unsafe, threatened or harassed. Security personnel as well as fellow protesters have always been supportive and protective. PTI jalsas in Pakistan often give a sense of warm friendships, of like-mindedness.
It was, therefore, shocking that on the evening of May 9 we experienced aggressive threats from the police, were nearly taken away in the infamous 4 wheelers that Islamabad Police seems to have gotten their hands on. Sector E-7 in Islamabad is, perhaps, the safest and best secured piece of geography in Pakistan. For such a confrontation to occur in this area is a testament to how low the security situation in Pakistan has plummeted.
Late afternoon we received a message from our colleague to carry only one message on posters; “Elections as per the Constitution of Pakistan”. We were to pick a street corner close to our homes, park ourselves there with a fair and applicable message, carry no party flags, play no PTI anthems, and most definitely no call out to the opposition directly to do right by Pakistanis. Simple enough. Each one of us prepared a makeshift message board with one simple message in favour of elections and the Constitution and we marched out to meet at a corner of Margalla Avenue and spend the next hour reminding passersby of our demand.
We had amongst us a large number of women, shaheeds’ (martyrs) families, ex military personnel and several others. There were also some who had lost loved ones and knew exactly why they had been murdered and by whom. Alternately, we also had amongst us valiant air force officers who, as they often do, dove into their war stories about how they had saved cities and populations from being bombed by the enemy. It was a motley crowd, but spirited and committed. We started with just 5 people, and within half hour there must’ve been around 50 people, many of whom were driving by, saw us and stopped and joined the silent protest. We were told we had from 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm (possibly as allowed by the government), after which we must disperse and return home.Come 6.30 pm we started to say goodbye and were just standing around chatting for a moment when a police van screeched up to us, almost right on to the side walk. Before we could move away, a dozen policemen thundered on to the sidewalk and started screaming at us while nearly herding us away from the road. Their senior police officer was screaming at the top of his voice “aap log ghaddar hain, aap ne shaheedon ka khoon piya hai, aap jaein yahan se warna abhi aapko jail ki hawa khilatey hain”. A very senior PAF officer said “Mein ne Pakistan ko bachaya hai, jaan hatheli pe rakh kar”. The guy retorted “aap dushman hain, aap ko gaari mein bitha letey hain”. Then he turned to me “aap ki kya kahani hai? Aap ne bhi Pakistan bachaya hai?” I said “nahin ji mein ne kuch nahi bachaya, mein inko le jaati hoon”. I told Uncle “pls stop arguing, lets just go home”. He and I are neighbors and he and my father were very close friends. I went to my other friend and told her “please bas karein, ye aap ko zakhmi kar dein ge”. I kept pleading until I succeeded in moving them to get into their cars. We had other friends around; a doctor who was actually put in the van but managed to get himself out, a mom with her daughter, Pak Army family, at least 2 persons (myself included) who had shaheeds in their families.
Short story, They didn’t care who we were and what our association with Pakistan is. They were probably little babies when the fighter pilot who they were abusing flew his jet over India and destroyed a whole squadron like sitting ducks. They didn’t know that a middle aged woman who was speaking to them politely about her husband was the daughter in law of one of the finest Pakistanis, and she was married to – and lost – a most promising young Pakistanis. They also didn’t know that when they asked me in a very humiliating manner “aap ka bhi koi shaheed waheed hai?” I must admit that hurt me, but I didn’t retaliate – just made sure the 92 year old PAF office and my friend who lost her husband were just taken away to the cars.
One can write a book on how humiliating it is to see shaheeds’ (martyrs) families being used and abused as part of a propaganda campaign. I have been wanting to give the perspective of other shaheed families, like mine and dozens whom I know, but one is scared – honestly.
This is a nightmare. I am hoping when I wake up we will be back to our normal life – frustrating but never humiliating, at least for us who belong to the military but carry a different view of how the military can still be engaged with the nation on an equal and respectable footing.
Testimony of an Anonymous woman from Lahore
I want to start by clarifying two things:
a. I wish I could have identified myself, but it is just this high-risk that even though I am not a politician, a political worker or even an official party member of any political party in Pakistan, that prevents me from doing so.
b. My statement is my reading of the situation and NOT representative of the positions of any politicians in Pakistan. I speak only as a citizen of my country, who finds herself suddenly
voiceless, faceless, and even nameless. Women in Pakistan have always been in trouble. This is an undeniable fact, one we have lived with pretty much our entire lives. So today’s conversation is not about erasing our deeply problematic misogynistic social history, but it is a broad consensus at this point that never before have Pakistani women been targeted at this scale, and so violently for their political interest. You will note that I’ve used the word interest, not just choice. This is deliberate. It represents the gravity of aggression and misogyny with which the state is attempting to wipe clean women voices in both the public and the private spheres, most notably by punishing any kind of engagement they may have undertaken with a grassroots socio-political movement.
What does punishment of engagement look like?
-Private phone calls have been tapped, recorded, and then leaked into the public domain to target both judicial as well as political actors through the women of their homes (who are not involved in any electoral politics themselves)
-Similar audio leaks exist of women associated with the PTI, a few of these have been altered to present false narratives in order to use these edited leaks to pressurize them into defection or departure from the country altogether
-Plenty of videos are already in the public domain of peacefully protesting girls/women being physically abused by the police, most notably a physically impaired young woman being dragged out of her wheelchair and across the road at Liberty Roundabout Lahore by a group of at least ten male police officers.
-In an interview statement released just today, following her appearance in court after 22 days of imprisonment, Instagram influencer Sanam Javaid revealed that although she has not been tortured physically, has been asked repeatedly by police investigators the one question: why did you step out of your homes?
-A BBC report dated 24 May reveals similar threatening comments were made by police in Rawalpindi as they were detaining peacefully protesting students who support the political leader, Imran Khan.
-The list continues to expand rapidly. An American citizen was constantly looking for her mother, whose well-being was only confirmed last night when a young lawyer, who has been personally going from jail to jail across Punjab, finally found her in Lahore Sadar (Cantt).
-A woman was picked up in Lahore from her home a couple of days ago, reportedly by members of intelligence agencies – not the police – for having participated in a social commentary video that went viral. The video poked fun at the notorious ‘Vigo daala’ – the vehicle of choice for agencies when they are about to conduct an abduction operation against citizens. (They do this by blocking a car’s pathway, forcing the car to stop, out of which they can then drag the person in question).
-100s others are in hiding, at relatives’ homes, outside of the country, moving from one place to another, only because they are PTI voters/supporters, not because they have participated in any violent action or endorsed the ransacking or destruction of public property. Women in Pakistan are being oppressed for developing a political voice, which they would obviously want to use to advocate gender equity across all domains of life. They are being targeted for having even a political opinion or thought process. This is clear in the press conference statements read out by Shireen Mazari and Maleeka Bokhari, both educated and
strong-willed champions of human, especially women’s, rights.
The messaging from the state appears clear: the woman’s place is in her home, her role is the bearing of a next generation of human beings, with whom women (as mothers or teachers) should not discuss any thoughts that can lead to political participation. Any woman who questions power dynamics in Pakistan is at risk. That’s 50% of this population and 100% of the next generation whose political process has been endangered by these dangerous games of an unchecked state, fronted by a dysfunctional government. For those who are insisting there is no violent treatment, my only appeal to them is to look up
the notion of ‘symbolic violence’ and examine how the symbolic violence of women tears through the ethical compass of generations of a people.
Tehreek-e-Insaf women workers and May 9 : The way they abused me was more painful than the shelling’
This is a translation of the Urdu version of this news report by BBC Urdu. https://www.bbc.com/urdu/articles/crg3vwnp2rwo
Tarhab Asghar
BBC Urdu, Lahore
May 24 2023
‘I said, don’t touch me, I will sit in the van myself. The policeman replied, it’s not like you’re a decent girl. If you were decent, you would not have left the house.’ Ayesha (pseudonym) was among the women arrested after her party staged violent protests and arson in response to the arrest of Tehreek-e-Insaaf chairman, Imran Khan. As a result of the violent incidents that took place on 9 May 2023, in addition to public and private buildings, military properties were also damaged in many cities of the country. During the protest, many people were killed and dozens were injured. Following these incidents of occupation and arson, an ongoing series of arrests was initiated against Tehreek e Insaaf leaders and workers. A significant number of women are included among those detained. PTI claims that a large number of their activists or sympathizers, who were not part of the protests (that day), have also been detained. Talking about her arrest, Ayesha said: When Imran Khan was arrested, we came out to protest. We were all students
protesting at an intersection, when we found out that some of our colleagues were protesting outside the ISI office. All of us also headed there, and on reaching there, were standing peacefully with placards, when just a few minutes later, tear gas shelling and suddenly the police and Rangers (paramilitary troops) were charging at us. As we ran in the other direction, police started calling out to us, why are you running now? Come back now, why don’t you?’ She (also) said: ‘At the time, all we could hear were the sounds of screaming and foul words being hurled. Some boys came and told us that two girls who had been with us had been taken away by the police, so we should also leave. We went to our homes. That night was very difficult. Voices and foul words were echoing in my mind. I was also worried because my friends had been taken away by the police.
The next day we did not even go outside the ISI office. We were just standing on a regular road when suddenly the police, Elite Force, Rangers and I don’t know who (else) turned up. We were tear gas shelled and sprayed with water cannons and this went on for several hours before we were arrested from the same place.’ Ayesha claims that while she and a fellow protestor were taken to a women’s police station, the rest of her friends were taken to a general police station by the police.
According to her, ‘All of us were tortured at the time of arrest. We were struck with batons. When the policemen were arresting me, I told them not to touch me, that I would accompany them myself, to which they replied, you’re an immoral girl…it’s not like you’re a decent girl.’ According to Aisha, what was more painful for her than the pain caused by the tear gas was the treatment she received during her arrest: ‘My face and eyes still burn because of the shelling and water cannon, but what hurts more is the constant abuse I received. My mother has passed away. If she were alive and had seen all this, she would have died (from what she would have seen).’ Ayesha was released on bail after a day of detention, but says that she has faced ill treatment from those around her. She also claims that the police have not stopped tracking
her. ‘No one in our family had ever gone to jail. I am the first one, and to top it off, a woman. Because of this, the people around me are making my life impossible. What’s more is that since our release, the police are looking for us again.’ She alleged ;They (the police) have been going around our neighbourhood showing everyone our (all the girls’) videos and photos, asking whether they’ve seen us, and if you
see them, tell the police immediately.’
She said, ’Now I feel like…I dunno…I’m a girl with really loose character. All I want is that either I die or we really do get our freedom. After which no one calls us immoral for protesting, (in which) we have supremacy of the law in our country, (where) no one is above the system (law). For me, this is freedom.’
We have been homeless for days
Ayesha was arrested after the protest, but many Tehreek-e-Insaaf activists like Saba (pseudonym) were forced to go into hiding due to the arrests that began after the 9 May
protests. Saba, a mother of two, has been associated with the PTI for many years and has been a part of the party’s meetings, rallies and protests. She was also involved in the protests on May 9, but soon after that she left the city with her family. Speaking to the BBC, she said: ‘It feels like the earth is closing in on us. Most of our women have either been detained or are in hiding. We have been homeless for days. (Our) children cannot go to school. As we were leaving (our homes) there was not even enough time to pack any clothes. After leaving the house, I contacted everyone to ask someone to keep us, but it was a pity that the people we thought would help us gave a clear answer to neither come to their homes nor cause any trouble for them. On the other hand, there were many people, including ordinary workers, whom we never even asked for help, who supported us and helped us. She claimed that the police are still looking for them. ‘CIA people come to my house several times a day, ask our staff (about us); the police sometimes go to the house of one of our relatives and sometimes to the house of a friend. Now I fear that those people (police) might eventually reach us here (where we are).’
Saba is a Tehreek-e-Insaaf worker, but because of the fear of arrest by the police, even supporters of the Tehreek-e-Insaaf who belong to the country’s elite have had to go into hiding. Among them is Khadija Shah, owner of one the country’s biggest fashion houses, and daughter of Dr. Salman Shah, a former financial adviser to past federal and provincial governments. Khadija presents herself as a supporter of Imran Khan and Tehreek-e-Insaaf on her social media. Videos of the 9 May storming of the Corps Commander’s House in Lahore were also posted from her social media accounts. The police were actively searching for Khadija Shah to arrest her; on Tuesday night (23 May), she surrendered herself to the law. Speaking about women arrests and raids on people’s homes in the context of 9 May incidents, IG Punjab Dr. Usman Anwar said that all the arrests were being made in accordance with the law. ‘We have all the evidence and we are making all these arrests in the light of this (evidence).’ He denied all allegations of ill treatment during the arrest process and said that all detained women were being treated according to the law. Those who would be determined to not be involved in any crime would be released in light of police and intelligence reports.
‘Modern women have emerged as a powerful force’
In Pakistani politics, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf is counted as a political party supported by a large number of women and after the 9 May incident, it was also alleged that the party used its women supporters as a shield. Tehreek-e-Insaaf workers and leaders reject this allegation. When a woman member of the party was asked about this, she said, “This is how political rivals see it. But the truth is that when Imran Khan started the Jail Bharo (court arrest) Movement, we were specifically told that no woman would surrender herself voluntarily (in this movement). If they had wanted to use as a shield, they would have asked us to surrender ourselves back then.’
Commenting on the role of women supporting the Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s politics, commentator Sohail Warraich says the the role of women in Tehreek-e-Insaf’s politics – whether as a leader, worker or supporter – has not been witnessed before in the near past. Right now, the number of women is much more and they are women of a new ear, who know how to struggle (for) and follow their own thoughts. They are emerging as a new force, which is unlike anything any other political party has.’ He said, ‘The Tehreek-e-Insaaf has the support of all types of women. Those who liked Imran Khan as a cricketer or those who like his personality. This is why these modern women are playing an important role in this entire political process. As far as their arrests are concerned, if someone commits a crime, she should be punished according to the law, but the violence and the manner in which women are being arrested are worthy of condemnation.’