Last night, ten people were arrested from outside Justice Shahdi Siddiqui's house while holding a peaceful vigil. Amongst those arrested were two FAST students, a LUMS alumnus, Amanullah Kariapper, and a member of the LUMS law faculty, Saima Khwaja.
Upon hearing the news, about 25-30 students form LUMS left for the Racecourse police station. Civil society activists and lawyers had already assembled outside and were joined by students from LUMS, BNU, and FAST. The protestors chanted slogans, sang songs, and recited poetry after forming a peace sign with candles.
About 4 am, it was decided that the crowd should disperse and return with reinforcements at 8am. Once the protesters left, those arrested were moved to an unknown location. After hours of trying to locate them, it was discovered that their hearing was to be held at the Cantt Kutcheri at 11:30 am. The protestors arrived at the kutcheri and learnt that the 'miscreants' had been charged with disturbing the peace. They were not allowed bail.
The prisoners were then divided and some were shifted to Kot Lakhpat jail, while others were taken to Cantt Jail on Ferozepur Road. The protestors continued their protest outside Cantt Jail, joined by the parents of those arrested, until police pressure became too great to remain. They dispersed and then met at Lawrence Gardens to discuss plans for Monday, specifially for the protest to be held outside the high court to mark International Human Rights Day (10th December).
(Eds - This is the bare bones of what happened. We will be updating you as details come in)
Friday, December 7, 2007
Update on arrests from outside Justice Siddiqui's residence
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1 comment:
there r certain issues on which sides must be taken....the core issue of justice and freedom is obviously critical. But a few students and professors from the few "elite schools" will be easily dealt with. To succeed this thing needs to get pervasive and widespread....other schools, colleges, universities, parents, teachers, lawyers and other citizens need to come out....there is a dam waiting to burst in this country, but the secret is to be able to make people believe it can happen...students r the easiest because they have idealism, courage and less to lose (or at least a much hazier realization of what they can lose) and most importantly, they have the time. But again, a few students from the few upper crust schools wont shake the junta....but if it spreads to all universities across pakistan and the lawyers join in, the junta will cave for sure....and we might have a country we can be proud of!
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