Tanveer Ahmed was not produced in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) courts on Tuesday as Pakistanis continued their dubious games to deny the senior journalist his right to a legal redressal. Tanveer Ahmed was arrested in August last year when he took off Pakistan’s flag from Dadyal.
Local Kashmiris in POK said that Tanveer Ahmed’s arrest is illegal and protested against his continued detention. Protests erupted across POK against the illegal detention of Tanveer Ahmed at the call of the Jammu and Kashmir National Student Federation. Protesters shouted slogans and demanded immediate release of Tanveer Ahmed.
Protestors said that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is not a part of Pakistan so hoisting Pakistani flags is illegal. Therefore, the case against Tanveer Ahmed are baseless and his arrest is illegal. Protesters demanded that Tanveer Ahmed be released immediately.
Who is Tanveer Ahmed?
Tanveer Ahmed is a British Kashmiri citizen who worked with the BBC and is now a freelance journalist and researcher. Tanveer Ahmed is fighting for the identity of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and was recently on a tour of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to discuss the formation of the People’s Assembly. Some time ago, a burglary took place at Tanveer Ahmed’s house which is being termed as official theft in which Tanveer Ahmed’s laptop and other papers were stolen.
Three years ago, Tanveer Ahmed, despite enduring severe travel restrictions and imprisonment, conducted a poll of 10,000 people from all corners of the ten districts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and released the survey report that described that popular opinion of people across POK. This survey report was published by the newspaper Mujadilla in which 73% of the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were in favor of an independent Jammu and Kashmir.
However, the very next day of publishing Tanveer Ahmed’s survey report the newspaper Mujadilla was shut down and Pakistan imposed a ban on its further publication. Today Tanveer Ahmed has been imprisoned even as he struggles to restore the identity of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Social media is awash with outrage over Tanveer Ahmed’s detention and there are talks of launching a movement to remove Pakistani flags from all across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Kashmiris are demanding the release of Tanveer Ahmed as well as the restoration of the Mujadila newspaper.
[…] a jail at Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK)? What is his crime? Tanveer Ahmed is a senior journalist who continues to be in the Mirpur jail at Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) since Aug 21, 2020.Watch our video report to understand the full […]