WAF seeks timely action to protect academic facing threats

The Women Action Forum (WAF) has condemned “the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s threats to lodge a case” against Dr Arfana Mallah, a member of the forum, an academic at the University of Sindh and an activist.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the women’s rights body alleged that Allama Rashid Soomro, the Sindh secretary general of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), had instructed his party’s Hyderabad-based leader, Maulana Taj Muhammad Nahio, to proceed against Mallah. “The allegation levelled against her amounts to incitement and poses a danger to Mallah’s safety,” the statement said.

The WAF said the JUI-F had “routinely targeted Mallah in the past to suppress her” voice and activism. “We demand that police thwart such nefarious attempts and that this situation is handled in a timely and lawful manner before any damage is caused.”

The statement said: “The blatant attempt to prosecute human rights activists for their committed work for the poor and marginalised people of Sindh must end. Laws are meant to protect citizens against abuse, not to be abused as tools of blackmail.”