Islamabad: Even as anger over wheat and electricity prices was coming to an end in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, fuel has been added to the raging fire, with a prominent poet and journalist being abducted by the State agencies.
Ahmed Farhad, who has been a known critic of the Pakistani State and its security agencies, was abducted from his home in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, yesterday and remains traceless since then, triggering a major outcry.
Originally hailing from Bagh area of POJK, Farhad has been abducted, by Pakistan’s notorious intelligence agency ISI, for raising his voice during the recent mass agitation in the occupied territory.
According to his wife, the abductors broke into the house, disconnected CCTV and forcibly dragged Farhad out of the house, to be dumped into a vehicle.
Since then, his whereabouts are not known, like is the case with all the ‘Enforced Disappearances’ carried out by the Pakistani security agencies in POJK and occupied Balochistan.
The incident has triggered a massive outcry in POJK and beyond as it is being seen as an attempt by the Pakistani military to silence free speech.
Prominent Baloch leader Mahrang Baloch, who has been leading a major campaign against the dreaded practice of Enforced Disappearances in Balochistan, said the highly condemnable incident cannot suppress the genuine voices daring to expose lies.
She said brave voices will continue to speak against the Pakistani State’s barbarism.
Paank, a human rights unit of Baloch National Movement or BNM, said Farhad’s abduction exemplifies the menace of enforced disappearance.
This incident has added fuel to the fire already raging in POJK against the Pakistani state.
The occupied territory witnessed several days of mass movement, ostensibly to press the demand for provision of wheat flour at subsidized rates and tax-free electricity produced by the projects in POJK.
However, the underlying reason for the agitation was the demand for Independence from Pakistan.
