June 5, 2024
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
A written order of Ahmad Farhad – who was abducted on May 15 – was released late Tuesday night, but does not give any reasons as to why the bail of the Kashmiri resistance poet has been denied by an anti-terrorism court. Farhad’s lawyer, Sardar Karam Dad Khan (KD Khan) told Voicepk that he could not make any comments about the order at this time and that he needed more time with his client to say anything yet.
However human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir who is fighting a case of the enforced disappearance of the poet in Islamabad High Court did answer some questions.
Imaan Mazri is representing Syeda Urooj Zainab, Ahmad Farhad’s wife, who filed a petition regarding the disappearance of the poet. The case is being heard by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani senior puisne judge of the IHC. Urooj Zainab is being represented by human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali.
Imaan Mazari said that it was odd how there was no explanation given in the court document as to why the bail was rejected, and added that while the government wanted the IHC case to be closed, it was not possible until Ahmad Farhad was released from the AJK court. Until then the petition in IHC could not be disposed, she said.
“Till he not released and does not reach home, and till we as his lawyers do not inform the court that he has reached home; or that Farhad himself appears before the IHC – the case here cannot be dropped,” she said.
Questioning the Involvement of Intelligence Agencies
The order sheet of the case was released late Tuesday night in a four-page verdict. It showed that Farhad had been charged under 10 clauses including Section 6 of the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA), along with Sections 324, 489-Y, 109, 120-B, 148, 149, 186, 147, and 353 of the Azad Penal Code)
But while his lawyers argue that he was not involved in any terrorist activities, there have been allegations that the military’s intelligence agencies were behind the poet’s disappearance.
On May 16, Justice Kayani in an IHC proceeding had summoned a report from the defence secretary regarding the alleged involvement of the intelligence agencies in Farhad’s disappearance.
On May 24, Justice Kayani issued a detailed order containing multiple questions on missing persons. He had also summoned the sector commanders of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI), the director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and the defence, law and interior secretaries.
On May 29, Justice Kayani had posed questions concerning the roles and responsibilities of all three intelligence agencies.
Mysteriously, while the May 29 proceedings were taking place, the missing poet was suddenly ‘discovered’ in custody of the Dhirkot Police (AJK) situated in village Gujjar Kohala, in Bagh district, near the AJK-KP border.
Imaan Mazari told Voicepk that there was immense influence of the military on the courts in Kashmir.
“My understanding is that the entire court system and structure in Kashmir is run under the military’s shadow,” she said. “The courts there are heavily influenced by the military.”
She said the issue of Farhad going missing was skimmed over conveniently by the AJK court.
“What is strange is that the AJK court has not addressed the fact anywhere that there is a writ petition pending in the IHC and the period of retention – the illegal detention, that is still not mentioned or unaccounted for,” said Imaan Mazari. “The malafide of roping him into the FIR through has not been discussed at all by the court and that gives the indication that it is a very controlled environment.”
Case Charges
After he was found in the Dhirkot police custody on May 29, Farhad was then handed over to the Saddar police in Muzaffarabad the same day, and was booked under nine sections of the APC and one section each of the Telegraph Act and the Anti-Terorrism Act. Details provided by senior journalist Tariq Naqash, based in Muzaffarabad show that the at first, the police were silent about a report filed on May 13, (FIR number 205/24). Later, it was discovered that the report was about 150-200 people who had been rioting the same day across the region over various issues. According to the report the protestors had ‘blocked roads’, ‘fought’, and ‘attacked soldiers’ on their way from Bararkot to Muzaffarabad.
Naqash informs that the police accused a group called JAAC (Joint Awami Action Committee) was behind it. The Assistant AG – also the government’s Special Prosecutor in the case said that Farhad had been traced through social media on May 14 and had been named in the FIR.
But in his argument in court, Farhad’s lawyer KD Khan had said that Farhad had been wrongfully implicated in the case as he was not named in the FIR adding that he could not have instigated a mob while being in Islamabad and while there was no internet service in AJK at the time.
Meanwhile, wife of Ahmad Farhad, Syeda Urooj, told Voicepk that court had not bothered to give his family any reasons why his bail had been rejected. “We had only just entered the court on Tuesday when I had received news that my husband’s bail had been rejected,” she said. “This was one day after both sides were heard and they had reserved the verdict.”
She said that her husband’s absence was having a severe impact on their son son who already had delayed speech problems and has been undergoing therapy for that. “But because of this issue we cannot continue the treatment. He has been trying but cannot express his feelings in words,” she said. “It’s a hard time for a child and can affect his behavior throughout his life, because he is hit by immense grief.”
Meanwhile Afzal Butt, the President of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), while talking to Voicepk said that the reason Farhad was picked up was not rooted in his poetry, but because of his activism.
“Ahmed Farhad was not picked because of his poetry but he made very irresponsible posts on Facebook,” he said. He had written on his Facebook that 15 people had been killed and that people should come out of their homes. But this was factually incorrect as 15 people had not been killed,” said the journalist. “It does not suit a journalist or poet to add fuel to the fire when there are riots taking place. This was a wrong thing to do on his behalf. However this does not mean that the agencies should have picked him up like that. While Ahmed Farhad made a mistake, those that were handling his case made even bigger mistakes.”
Shahzad Shaukat the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and Qalb-e-Hassan from the Pakistan Bar Council chose not to comment on the case, with Hassan adding that did not have enough information about it.