Police in a fix after lodging case against Aurat March organisers

PESHAWAR: The Capital City Police is in a fix after lodging a case against the organisers of the Aurat Azadi March, an event that did not take place in their jurisdiction.

The organisers of the Aurat Azadi March that took place in Islamabad have condemned and expressed concern over the first information report (FIR) registered in a Peshawar Police Station against the women marchers.

An official said that a team headed by Senior Superintendent of Police Investigation was looking into the matter after the lodging of the case.

“The Peshawar Police had nothing to do with the event as it was not held in their area. The team will look into the matter from all angles and will decide whether or not Peshawar Police can investigate the matter that wasn’t held in their jurisdiction,” said an official. The official said the police had once filed an appeal to avoid the FIR but lodged it later on the directives of the court.

In a statement, the Aurat Azadi March organizers in Islamabad condemned the FIR registered in a Peshawar Police Station against peaceful women marchers based on baseless and false blasphemy accusations under 295-C.

The Aurat Azadi March organisers stated that the women marchers have been receiving countless death and rape threats since the event was organised.

“These accusations and threats have now gone too far as we have been falsely accused of blasphemy, an accusation that gravely endangers the lives of 100s of women.

We are being incriminated for crimes we never committed, slogans that were never raised and banners that were never carried,” said a statement.

Additionally, it added that the incidents which are being falsely framed as blasphemous in these charges are not even from the Islamabad March. The allegations have been debunked by both media outlets and the respective city chapters where these were made.

“This makes it even more clear that the registered FIR in Peshawar is mala-fide and a gross miscarriage of justice. Aurat Azadi March Islamabad will stand tall against extremist, reactionary and patriarchal forces. We will not retract and we will not bow down in submission. We are hopeful that justice will prevail and criminals, liars & religious bigots will be brought before the law,” it stated.