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Abducted British-Pakistani activist freed in Lahore: family
LAHORE, Pakistan, June 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A British-Pakistani activist
known for her criticism of Pakistan’s military was briefly abducted late
Tuesday by unknown men in the eastern city of Lahore, her family said,
prompting fears she had been forcibly disappeared.
Gul Bukhari, 52, was detained for several hours by unknown men one day
after the powerful military held a press conference warning that it is
monitoring citizens who criticise Pakistan, amid a growing crackdown on free
speech in the country.
Bukhari was on her way to a TV news station in Lahore where she was due to
appear as an analyst on a late night show when she was stopped, her husband
Ali Nadir told AFP.
“She left around 10:40 pm for Waqt News but was apparently picked up on the
way. It seems to be plainclothes people but we don’t have any more info,” he
said in a WhatsApp message.
He later confirmed that she had been freed, but could not immediately
provide further details.
Sources at Waqt News said the kidnapping had taken place inside an army-
controlled part of the city.
The British High Commission in Islamabad said Wednesday that it was aware
of the reported incident and “reaching out with consular assistance”.
“We are very concerned at reports of Gul Bukhari’s abduction last night,”
the High Commission said in a statement posted on Twitter.
News of her abduction caused a furore on social media.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, daughter of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said
it was “extremely disturbing” and the “worst kind of oppression”.
“I hope better sense prevails and she returns unharmed. This is simply not
acceptable,” she tweeted before Bukhari returned home.
“Dissenters are not a threat. Healthy societies allow critical voices to
foster/retain a pluralist culture,” tweeted newspaper editor and analyst Raza
Ahmad Rumi.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was “alarmed” by the report of
her abduction.
MORE/MR/ 1210 hrs
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“Pakistani journalists have seen enough tragedy,” the watchdog tweeted.
– Monitoring social media –
Pakistan has had a history of enforced disappearances over the past decade,
mainly confined to conflict zones near the Afghanistan border or to the
restive southwestern Balochistan province.
However, in recent years, a growing number of such abductions have taken
place brazenly in major urban centres such as Karachi, Lahore and even the
capital Islamabad.
They have also increasingly targeted activists and journalists critical of
the state and the military’s policies, largely seen as a red line few dare
cross.
The military routinely denies being involved.
Some of those who have been released in the past have described being
tortured, though many remain reluctant to name their abductors.
Others remain missing, like activist Raza Khan who disappeared in December
2017.
However, a burgeoning civil rights movement by the country’s ethnic
Pashtuns and recent comments from former PM Sharif have increasingly
criticised the security establishment and its policies, including
disappearances.
On Monday, the military held a wide-ranging press conference in which it
pushed back against the recent criticism.
“We have the capability to monitor social media as to who is doing what,”
military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said.
He also briefly flashed an image on screen showing what appeared to be
Twitter handles and names, including of at least one prominent journalist,
but refused to elaborate further.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1210 hrs