Senior journalist Tanveer Ahmed’s family, friends and well wishers began a sit-in from Sunday at Dadyal, Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) as part of their protest campaign to demand for his safe release from the custody of Pakistani authorities. Tanveer Ahmed was arrested on August 21 when he pulled down the Pakistani flag from Maqbool Bhat Sqaure, Dadyal, he continues to be under arrest ever since then.
Several people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) belonging to different walks of life attended the protest camp site and expressed solidarity with the family members of Tanveer Ahmed. “We have come here to demand the release of Tanveer saheb from police custody,” a protester at the sit-in site told News Intervention. Another protester said the Pakistani state has a history of rough handling Kashmiris.
“If my husband Tanveer Ahmed is not released soon then we will set up this sit-in protest camp right outside the Mirpur jail,” wife of Tanveer Ahmed told News Intervention. She further added that Tanveer Ahmed was arrested when he took down a foreign country’s flag from the main chowk …”and after his custody Tanveer saheb has been brutally tortured and his health is now in a critical condition due to these intense tortures.”
The court had earlier rejected Tanveer Ahmed’s bail application and the Pakistani authorities have continued to torture him in custody. Reliable sources within POK said that Pakistani intelligence agents and the local administration have forced Tanveer Ahmed to sign an apology that he had refused from the first day.
Tanveer Ahmed’s family has appealed to human rights organizations and social activists all around the world to raise their voice and demand for the safe recovery of senior journalist Tanveer Ahmed. Hashtag #ReleaseTanveerAhmed can be used by everyone on the social networking websites to express appeal for Tanveer Ahmed’s safe recovery.
[…] Tanveer Ahmed’s family members and friends were later on told by the authorities that due to a strike against the decision to turn Gilgit-Baltistan into a Pakistani province there was limited staff in the courtroom and so the court proceedings could not be recorded. Tanveer Ahmed’s friends rejected this reasoning and termed them as “baseless”. […]