Protesters demand release of political activist

Political activists and rights activists, mainly belonging to Gilgit-Baltistan, took part in a protest on Sunday to demand the release of Baba Jan, a political leader, and 13 other activists.

The protest was organised by the Gilgit-Baltistan Youth Alliance, Karachi, outside the Karachi Press Club to express solidarity with the sit-ins going on in Hunza, Islamabad and other areas of the country, demanding the release of political activists.

Speakers said the struggle of Jan, a leader of the Awami Workers Party, was legitimate as he had supported the people displaced due to the Attabad lake disaster and organised protests during the Hunza visit of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister.

“Even Jan was not there when the protest against Attabad Lake had been held back in 2011, but he was implicated in the FIR and sent behind the bars against the norms of justice,” said a speaker.

They demanded that the judicial commission report on the incident be made public. The speakers also demanded the appointment of judges to the Supreme Appellate Court and early hearing of the review petition filed by Jan and others against their conviction that was pending for hearing since the last three years.