Last Updated on November 23, 2020 at 6:37 pm
A journalist named Tanveer Anmed who was arrested on August 21 from PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) for the ‘crime’ of taking down Pakistani flag at Dadyal has started a hunger strike against the oppressive government that is continuously denying him basic legal options available to all the political prisoners.
Tanveer Ahmed’s case came on October 29 for hearing at the Supreme Court of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). However to the dismay of Tanveer, the two-member judicial panel did not even bother to record the court proceedings. The judges of (POK) court adjourned the court even without having listed the court proceeding details of the senior journalist.
A Dadyal resident told News Intervention that they did not get any proper reply from Tanveer’s lawyer. They went to the Mirpur Supreme Court (in POK) and scanned the records to find that there was no record of the October 29 proceedings and no date has been allotted for the next hearing.
Later, Authorities told the family members and friends that because of a strike against the government’s decision to turn occupied Gilgit-Baltistan into a Pakistani province there was limited staff in the courtroom and as a consequence, the court proceedings could not be recorded. Tanveer Ahmed’s friends called the excuse baseless and rejected this reasoning.
Dadyal resident alleged that with the help of the “limited staff” that was present in the courtroom, all other court proceedings on October 29 were typed and recorded. Dadyal resident asked that then why didn’t they record Tanveer Ahmed’s case proceedings?
Family of Tanveer Ahmed was later verbally informed that the Supreme Court panel would hear Tanveer’s case on November 18.
To protest against this mental harassment, Tanveer Ahmed started his fast from November 1. Tanveer Anmed’s condition was serious and his friends suspected that the ISI might try to eliminate the journalist.
Tanveer Ahmed’s friends and relatives are trying very hard continuously to persuade him to finish his hunger strike but he has not yet agreed. The Dadyal resident said that Tanveer says that he had respect and trust for the judiciary but the judiciary does not seem to respect itself. He demands that if he has been imprisoned on political reasons, then he should also be provided political facilities.
