for those who can read urdu…
This was published in Daily Express on Nov 13th.
The video and the message below are from Spock.
Dear Friends,
The martial rule in Pakistan is turning into a reign of terror for ordinary citizens. Thousands of lawyers, journalists, human rights activists and professionals from all walks of life have been detained and held without charge. At the same time, the regime has allowed criminals with proven links to international terrorism to walk freely out of prison, and continues to cede vast tracts of Pakistani territory to militants. By suspending the constitution and disbanding the judicial edifice, the regime has become the prosecutor, the judge and the executioner for anyone who stands up to it. As the people of Pakistan continue to resist the dictatorship, it grows desperate by the day, turning evermore to measures unheard of before.
Yesterday, 12th November, the regime crossed a new threshold by shamelessly attacking, arresting and detaining schoolchildren in Islamabad. Around 100 students, most of them between 14 and 18 years of age, were staging a silent protest by walking outside a public park holding placards when they were accosted by Islamabad Police.The Police told the students that, because of their age, they needed special approval from the district magistrate’s office to walk any further and that they had to wait until such approval arrived. The students, unwilling to challenge the police, obliged and sat down where they were. Twenty minutes later, the students were informed that they had not been given permission to proceed any further, and were asked to return to their starting point and disperse. Once again, the students obliged, showing that they did not want to confront the Police who had clearly been given specific orders from above.
As they were walking back, the students were surrounded by more than 500 policemen –their ranks now reinforced with Punjab Police and the heavily armed commandos of the Anti-Terrorism Force –and were asked to disperse immediately. When some of the students pointed out that they were merely walking back to their starting point, as previously ordered, the Police turned violent. They started manhandling the children and hitting them with batons, pushing them into police vans. 48 students were physically assaulted and detained, amongst them a 12-year old boy. Even after they had turned themselves in without resistance, many of them were beaten with sticks and severely bruised. They were detained in the Margalla prison for hours without charge, and were prevented from meeting visitors or making calls. They were eventually released after they had signed written assurances not to attend protests against the government in the future.
This is another shameless act by an increasingly brutal and scared regime. We must not allow this to go on.