Friday, December 07, 2007, 
02:50 AM
A full scale protest was in swing outside the police station. About 80 to 120 people had gathered. There was a candle light vigil, people shouted slogans, sang songs and refused to leave till those arrested were released. We sang the national anthem of Pakistan, to which the line of policemen in riot gear responded by doing nothing really.
Throughout the protest there was no element of aggression from either side, although the street was blocked by police contingents from either side.
According to the decision taken by the protesters the students, teachers and other activists that had gathered at the Race Course Police Station have now divided into two groups. One group is going to stay in front of the police station for the whole night while the other is going to go back to their respective universities and homes and return early next morning with more support in numbers. The press and media is also going to be present in the morning, as it was tonight. The assembly is scheduled to take place by 8:30 AM.
Till then all those who have the opportunity to are writing to the press, media, websites and blogs. It is being ensured that the detained people are not lost from radar i.e. shifted to an unknown location where protests or gatherings cannot be held.
The arrested people are being taken to the court at 11:00 AM tomorrow. We are all going to gather there to make sure that the police does not make them disappear and that the detained people are at least taken to court by proper procedure.
LUMS alumnus, Amanullah Kariapper, is one of those who has been arrested, along with Saima Khawaja (Law Faculty, LUMS) and a few students from FAST University.
Earlier, FIR’s and arrest warrants were issued for 6 people from LUMS, including faculty members as well as students with charges of wall-chalking. These charges were denied by the students and faculty members vehemently, along with an appeal to stop creating this environment of fear and repression in the student community. Nevertheless, a list of around 6 students and faculty members has been circulated in LUMS over the past few days. The list contains names of those individuals against whom arrest warrants have been issued. The list is being circulated in order to notify and alert these individuals. A police contingent of 30 to 40 in complete riot gear has been present just outside the university gates of LUMS for the entire day for the last three days.
The Punjab police at about 10.30 pm cracked down on those holding vigil outside Justice M. A. Siddiqui’s house to prevent his forced eviction by the Punjab government. PCO Judges Tariq Shamim and Shabbar Raza Rizvi of the Lahore High Court had today issued notices to the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) and the District Police Officer (DPO) Operations for not having taken “concrete steps” against “Certain elements who spring out from nowhere and try to disrupt the national life on absolutely non-issues… creating law and order situation in a purely residential area where residences of the High Court Judges are located and outsiders are normally not allowed.”
The CCPO & DPO were to present themselves at 1130 hrs on 7 Dec. to show cause as to why they be not proceeded against in contempt jurisdiction after the Supreme Court Registrar and the Secretary to the Chief Justice of LHC had been directed to call upon them and Chief Secretary of Govt. of Punjab to ensure that no unlawful activity is carried out in the locality.
Those arrested include High Court advocates Saima Khwaja and Irum, along with other lawyers Salman Siddiqui (Justice M.A. Siddiqui’s son) and Ahmed Bashir, as well as three students (at least). H from FAST sent the following text: “Was at Justice Siddiqi’s house. Am inside prison van. 10 people arrested so far including 2 from FASTrising.”
They have been taken to Racecourse Jail, where activists have already started coming to express their solidarity.
Photos from the protest can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rizwan_quraishi
Updates and more details regarding student activisim available at http://www.pakistanmartiallaw.blogspot.com
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Tags: Ahmed Bashir, Amanullah Kariapper, FAST, LUMS, Protest, Racecourse Police Station, Saima Khawaja, Salman Siddiqui
7 responses so far ↓
1 Amna Mawaz Khan // Dec 7, 2007 at 9:23 am
Ab bhi jiska khoon na khaula Khoon nahi vo paani hai
Jau desh kai kam na aye Vo bekaar jawani hai
2 ali khan // Dec 7, 2007 at 10:56 am
amna mawaz khan app nai RANG DAI BASANTI buhat ziada daffa dekh lii hai
3 Editor X // Dec 7, 2007 at 5:12 pm
I agree with Amna… if someone does not stand up at this time and do something, we are really as good as dead.
4 Hamza // Dec 7, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Anyone have any updates on this??
5 Ali // Dec 7, 2007 at 5:57 pm
In the morning they were presented in cantt kachehri and a decision was slapped on them. They have been charged under mpo and moved to camp jail Ferozpur Road
6 ali shah zaman // Dec 7, 2007 at 6:32 pm
is it an anti musharraf site or news site? if editor X is the offical editor of the site than its surely is an anti musharraf one…i have never seen any news appreciting musharraf or its work…
7 Ahmad // Dec 7, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Attn: Ali Shah Zaman
There are adequate avenues available to the state at the moment to deliver its own version of news, with its own agencies selecting what and what not to inform the public about (and in which tone).
Obviously, no such avenue would condone the ongoing protests and assemblies, nor would they feel inclined to report their increasing frequency, but surely these events and arrangements (by individuals who feel passionately about what they are doing) deserve to be at least reported.
This is the purpose of this news site. If you begin to observe a bias in the manner in which things are being reported, then perhaps it would be worthwhile to wonder if its really caused by the manner of reporting, or by the news itself.
These pieces of information are compelling in their own right, and hence do carry an anti-government tone, which is inevitable given the content.
- Editor 2
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