Activists and teachers vow to continue struggle for Dr Riaz’s release

Participants of meeting convened by HRCP describe the
case registered against the KU professor as bogus

Expressing their concerns over the “illegal arrest” of Karachi University’s Professor Dr Riaz Ahmed and the “filing of a bogus case” against him, several rights and political activists and teachers vowed on Monday to continue their peaceful legal and political struggle for his release and also demanded that the authorities should ensure citizens’ right to freedom of expression.

Many political and civil society activists, teachers and students of various universities attended a meeting at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s Karachi office to discuss Dr Ahmed’s arrest and the registration of a case against him.

Dr Ahmed, who teaches at the University of Karachi’s Applied Chemistry Department and is a Cambridge University PhD, was taken away outside the press club by the law enforcement agencies on Saturday afternoon just before he was about to address a press conference there to demand medical treatment for Dr Hasan Zafar Arif, an elderly retired professor who is in police custody.

Dr Ahmed was sent to jail on Sunday over charges of possessing of illegal weapons and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

His colleague, Dr Mehar Afroz Murad, a retired KU professor, was also arrested along with him but later released.

The participants of the meeting at the HRCP office included Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum general secretary Saeed Baloch, HRCP vice chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt,, Jeay Sindh Mahaz chief Abdul Khaliq Junejo, prominent rights activist Jibran Nasir, Baloch literary activist Abdul Wahid Baloch, Inqibali Socialist’s Sartaj Khan, KU professor Dr Navin G Haider, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology teacher Asghar Dashti and other activists. Dr Murad, who was detained along with Dr Ahmed, also attended the meeting.

The participants of the discussion expressed their concerns over Dr Ahmed’s arrest and described it as curbing citizens’ right to freedom of expression.

They unanimously agreed that the case against Dr Ahmed was baseless and observed that it was a campaign to defame him.

Butt, who was recently re-elected as the vice-chairperson of the HRCP, said Dr Ahmed’s arrest had caused concerns among the public as well as civil society and political circles.

“Dr Ahmed is a peaceful rights activist who had always participated in campaigns for the rights of the oppressed segments of the society,” he added.

KU professor Dr Navin G Haider informed the participants of the meeting that the Karachi University Teachers Association had condemned Dr Ahmed’s arrest and was mulling calling a general body meeting of teachers to discuss the issue.

Agreeing with a participant’s suggestion, she said civil society activists and teachers body should separately continue their campaigns for Dr Ahmed’s release.

Jibran Nasir said activists should use social media to highlight the injustice being meted out to Dr Ahmed.

On Sunday, several civil society, political and trade union activists, students and teachers gathered outside the Karachi Press Club to demand the release of Dr Ahmed. Dr Ahmed’s arrest sparked outrage as many rights activists, academicians, students and political activists gathered outside the press club to express solidarity with the professor and pressure the government to release him. Holding banners and placards demanding Ahmed’s release, the participants of the demonstration maintained that fake cases were being filed against him and described his arrest as a move to curb the basic fundamental right of freedom of expression.

The participants said Dr Ahmed was a peaceful rights activist who had always participated in movements for the rights of the downtrodden and because of that he had been picked up and booked in a fake case.

Some prominent names among the protesters included Nasir Mansoor, Sartaj Khan, Abdul Wahid Baloch, Hani Baloch, Khurram Ali, Kaleem Durrani, Dr Hafeez Jamali, Nighat Siddiqui, Professor Hasnain, Ely Erlecan, Arshad Kundi, Dr. Jamil Akther,  Saeed Baloch, Saleha Aapa, Abria Ashfaq, Shujauddin Siddique, Ikram Ullah, Shafiq Awan and Naeem Sadiq.