Daily Times

Activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir returned home on Friday almost 24 hours after being “picked up by unidentified men” last night, according to his family and police, a private TV channel reported.

South Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Syed Asad Raza confirmed that the activist had reached home safely. He said that the police team would meet Nasir to record his statement. The rights lawyer’s “unjust abduction” last night had drawn widespread condemnation, with a protest held outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) earlier in the day.

His wife Mansha Pasha had said late on Thursday night that the couple was coming home after dinner around 11pm when they were intercepted.

“Around 15 men in plain clothes with pistols surrounded our vehicle and took Jibran forcefully,” she had said in a video message, requesting prayers for his recovery. They only kept yelling at us to get out of the car and offered no explanation, she had added. Reacting to the news, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan Senator Faisal Subzwari said: “He’s back, thank God.”

Nasir, who contested the 2018 general elections from Karachi as an independent candidate, has been vocal in his criticism of the recent state crackdown on the PTI as well as the legal process involving those who allegedly took part in the riots. He was listed in 2013 by the Foreign Policy Magazine amongst three Pakistanis doing inspirational work against sectarian violence.

Last week, senior journalist Sami Abraham was taken away by unidentified men in Islamabad and returned home six days later. His brother Ali Raza had filed a complaint of abduction at Aabpara Police Station. Meanwhile, anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan, who was arrested on May 11 from Sialkot airport by law-enforcement agencies on charges of hate speech after violent protests erupted countrywide in the wake of PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest and then picked up by ‘unknown persons’ upon release, is still missing.

A number of human rights activists, journalists and lawyers participated in the demonstration – organised by Joint Action Committee – and chanted slogans for ‘freedom’. They also held placards and banners inscribed with ‘Release Jibran Nasir’. Nasir’s cousin Talha Rehman said the lawyer was “picked up” in front of his wife at 11pm last night after which the family contacted the police.

However, he said, the application for a first information report was delayed for 12-13 hours and was finally registered at 1:30pm on Friday.

“As far as the authorities are concerned, we don’t know about his whereabouts at all, who has taken him, where he has been taken and what are the next steps as long as his release is concerned,” Rehman stated.

He further said that Nasir’s family had decided to file an application in the Sindh High Court for the lawyer’s release and would also be filing a habeas corpus petition. Karachi Union of Journalists President Faheem Siddiqui also attended the demonstration. Addressing the protesters, he said: “Everyone who talks about human rights will speak up for Jibran Nasir and demand his immediate release.”

Human rights activist Ghazala Shafique recalled Nasir’s work, saying that he was the “voice of the minorities in the country” and all the churches were praying for his safe return.

“The abduction of Jibran Nasir is a slap on the Pakistani society’s face,” she said.

Zahid Farooq of the Urban Resource Centre said Nasir was the person who stood for them when the evictions took place at the Gujjar Nullah.