Mohammed Hanif returns Sitara-i-Imtiaz in protest

ISLAMABAD: Author and journalist Mohammed Hanif announced to return Sitara-i-Imtiaz, the third-highest civilian award of Pakistan, to the State in protest over the violence meted out to Baloch marchers.

Reacting to a video of a Baloch girl pleading with the authorities for the “right to live”, Hanif lambasted the authorities for mistreatment of the Baloch protesters saying he was ashamed to witness a new generation being denied basic dignity.

“In protest, returning my Sitara-i-Imtiaz, given to me by a state that continues to abduct and torture Baloch citizens. Journalists of my generation have seen Sammi Baloch and Mahrang Baloch grow up in protest camps. Ashamed to witness a new generation being denied basic dignity,” Hanif wrote on his X account.

Hanif — a journalist, novelist, and playwright known for his famous work “A Case of Exploding Mangoes” — was honoured with the third-highest civilian award in Pakistan back in 2018.

The Islamabad Police on Thursday arrested over 300 BYC activists who arrived in Islamabad to demonstrate against the caretaker provincial government’s ‘anti-people’ policies.