Dr Ammar Ali Jan at the Gulberg police station in Lahore. - Photo by Imran Gabol

Lahore-based academic Dr Ammar Ali Jan was released after receiving bail from Model Town Katchery following his arrest from his residence in an early morning raid on Saturday.

After the raid, Jan was taken to the Gulberg police station.

In a Facebook status posted in the early hours of Saturday, Jan wrote he is “under arrest at the Gulberg police station”.

“There is an FIR against me for participating at the protest in Liberty against the killing of Professor Arman Loni,” Jan’s Facebook post said, adding that he was taken into custody at 4am which is when he said “the police raided my house”.

In the FIR registered against Jan, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the complainant said that Jan was leading a group of 100-150 people from “Pashtun Ittehad Movement” who had gathered on the call of Manzoor Pashteen.

It added that the gathering was blocking roads and Jan along with some others were chanting slogans against state institutions and intelligence agencies.

During the week, protests have taken place in Quetta, Islamabad and Lahore over the death of senior Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Arman Loni who was allegedly killed during a sit-in in Balochistan’s Loralai.

On Tuesday, at least 18 activists of the PTM were detained from outside the National Press Club in Islamabad. Among them was rights activist Gulalai Ismail, who was in detention for nearly 30 hours, and was released allegedly as a result of intervention from senior members of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government at the centre.

The PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework.

Earlier in Nov 2018, Jan, who was scheduled to speak at the Faiz International Festival, was barred from speaking at the event. At the time, he stated that he was informed by the organisers only three hours prior to his sessions that he was no longer permitted to speak due to “unavoidable” reasons.

In April 2018, Jan was also removed from the visiting faculty at the Punjab University, for what the administration says, “failing to meet contract requirements”. It was however alleged that Jan was sacked over his political views and activism.

Imran Gabol

• “Lahore-based academic Ammar Ali Jan released after receiving bail”. Dawn.com, Updated February 09, 2019:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1462773/lahore-based-academic-ammar-ali-jan-released-after-receiving-bail

Dr Ammar Ali Jan arrested by Gulberg police

Academic and activist Dr Ammar Ali Jan was picked up from his home at four in the morning on Saturday by the Gulberg police.

In a facebook post made from his account soon after his arrest, Dr Jan said that an FIR had been lodged against him and that he was under arrest at the Gulberg police station.

“I am under arrest at the Gulberg police station. There is an FIR against me for participating at the protest in Liberty against the killing of Professor Arman Loni” he wrote on his social media account.

“The police raided my house at 4 am to arrest me. I am a law-abiding citizen and will not be deterred in the fight for justice.”

The FIR registered against Dr Jan says that “Dr Ammar leading a group from FC College was present at liberty round-about with 100-150 protestors of the Pashtun Ittehad Movement which had blocked roads and traffic on the call of Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen.”

The protest had been part of the many such demonstrations organised all over the country including in Quetta, Islamabad and Lahore over the death of senior Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Arman Loni who allegedly died in an “extra-judicial killing” during a sit-in in Balochistan’s Loralai.

The FIR goes on to say that the protestors were using a loudspeaker to chant slogans against “agencies and also some important personalities.”

It went on to name Advocate Nisar Safdar, Mister Riaz, Saeed Areeb, and Zahire Baloch along with Dr Jan had been making inflammatory speeches against state institutions on loudspeakers and had been disturbing the peace. The FIR was registered under the Punjab sound system act of 2015.

Earlier, scores of PTM workers including senior leader Abdullah Nangyal and activist Gulalai Ismail were also arrested outside the National Press Club in Islamabad during a similar protest.

The arrest of Dr Jan has resulted in great outcry among his academic colleagues and different activists.

STAFF REPORT

• Pakistan Today, February 09, 2019:
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/02/09/dr-ammar-ali-jan-arrested-by-gulberg-police/