Mushtaq Ahmad released after being detained by security agents

Former Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) senator Mushtaq Ahmad was released on Thursday after his team claimed he was detained for over 24 hours after being denied entry into Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) by security personnel, saying his detention was linked to his support for ongoing protests in the region.

In a statement posted on X, the administrator of Ahmad’s official account announced: “Praise be to Allah! Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan was released. »

The statement further said that the former senator was held in “illegal detention” and announced that he would “hold an important conversation with the public and the media” at a press conference scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday at the Central Secretariat of the Pakistan Rights Movement in Islamabad.

The development came after clashes were reported between law enforcers and banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) protesters in Rawalakot, with reports of several deaths and injuries circulating on social media. Security forces and the JAAC claimed responsibility for the loss of life.

According to an earlier statement posted on his

The statement said he was stopped at Azad Pattan Bridge and denied entry to AJK before registering a protest and starting his journey back to Islamabad.

He alleged that around 7:07 p.m., Punjab Police intercepted his vehicle at Kahuta Bazaar, where “Punjab Police arrested him…and forcibly took him away in their vehicle”.

The statement further alleges that “the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DSP) of Kahuta Circle, Waqar took control of the car by taking the wheel from the driver”, while the vehicles accompanying Ahmad were temporarily stopped before being allowed to continue.

According to the statement, members of Ahmad’s team then contacted him and asked him to share his live WhatsApp location, which indicated that he had been taken to Rawat police station on GT Road. “On reaching the police station, our team made every effort to meet Mushtaq Ahmad Khan; however, access was denied by the police,” he added.

It added that the last contact with Ahmad was at 12:26 a.m. on Wednesday, when he reportedly told his team that “police officials indicated that some senior officials in Rawalpindi wanted to meet him.”

The statement further said that when Pakistan Rights Movement chief organizer Daniyal Abdullah contacted SHO Raja Iftikhar at Rawat police station around 1:20 am, the officer “categorically denied that Senator Mushtaq was ever brought to Rawat police station and claimed not to know his whereabouts”.

Read: PTI calls for judicial probe into Rawalakot violence, rejects AJK polls

Calling the incident a “forced disappearance in broad daylight,” the post added that it “raises significant concerns and highlights the absence of rule of law in Pakistan.”

It further alleged that “no arrest warrant, formal charge or legal justification had been presented” to the team that accompanied Ahmad and that authorities had not disclosed “his current location or physical condition,” “the legal grounds for his detention,” “the police station or agency that was detaining him,” or “whether a criminal case had been registered against him.”

The statement calls on the federal and Punjab governments to “immediately reveal the whereabouts of Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan”, “ensure his physical safety and access to his family and legal counsel”, “produce him without delay before a competent court”, “publicly clarify the legal basis for his detention” and “immediately release him unless he is charged with an identifiable criminal offense through due process of law”.

This alleged detention sparked rapid reactions from politicians and opposition parties.

Opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP) released a video highlighting Ahmed’s activities in Kashmir with the message: “Free Senator Mushtaq.”

Former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair also demanded the release of the former senator, saying his whereabouts were unknown more than 24 hours later.

“He was arrested and taken into custody while returning from Azad Kashmir yesterday. We demand his immediate release and those responsible for this act must be exposed,” he added.

Former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar also condemned the incident, saying Ahmed was arrested at Kahuta Bazaar by Punjab Police while returning from AJK before being taken into custody.

“His whereabouts are unknown. This is a blatant violation of the law by a repressive regime where no citizen is safe from its authoritarian tactics,” Khokhar wrote on X.

Political activist Ammar Ali Jan also condemned the incident, calling it “another criminal act of the current regime.”

In an article on Ashamed !

Clashes in AJK this week, which prompted Ahmad’s visit to the region, drew widespread condemnation from political parties and rights groups following reports of deaths and injuries during the protests.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was “deeply alarmed” by the reports, stressing that maintaining law and order “must never come at the expense of the right to life or the freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression.” He called for a “prompt, impartial and independent investigation” into the reported deaths and injuries.

Opposition parties also condemned the violence. The PTI demanded an “immediate, independent, transparent and impartial judicial investigation”, calling the reported deaths and injuries an attack on “human rights, democratic values ​​and civil liberties”.

TTAP denounced what it called the use of “excessive force” against protesters, while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman called the shooting of civilians “open terrorism.”

Ahmad had previously attracted national attention after being arrested by Israeli forces while aboard the Global Sumud flotilla, a humanitarian mission transporting food and medicine to Gaza.

Leading a five-member Pakistani delegation, his detention sparked widespread concern in Pakistan, with the Foreign Office saying it had worked “tirelessly” to ensure his safe evacuation via the Pakistani embassy in Jordan. After his release, he returned to Islamabad where he received a hero’s welcome, where he was received by supporters at the airport.

Background

The 53-member AJK Legislative Assembly has 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees – people who fled Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in 1947 and 1965 and are now scattered across Pakistan. Six seats represent refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 people) and six from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 people) – an already lopsided arrangement that many see as unfair.

The region experienced one of its most turbulent periods in October last year, when JAAC-led protests erupted demanding constitutional and governance reforms. At least nine people, including three police officers, were killed during the unrest.

The JAAC, which organized the protests and strike, had presented a broad charter of demands, including an end to the privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite, the removal of 12 assembly seats reserved for refugees and the abolition of the quota system.

Two days after the violence, the government and the JAAC reached an agreement on 12 basic points and 13 additional points. Under the agreement, both sides agreed to constitute a high-level committee to look into the issue of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

The file is currently at an impasse, with the JAAC demanding the removal of these seats while the government rejects this request.