ISLAMABAD: Imaan Mazari, daughter of Pakistan’s former human rights minister Shireen Mazari, was arrested early on Sunday from her residence here for interference in the state affairs, the police said.
Her mother Shireen Mazari, who quit the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party after spending a little time in police custody following the May 9 riots, however, termed the arrest an “abduction” and said people in civvies took Imaan away after breaking her front door. Shireen mentioned on X, formerly Twitter, that her daughter’s security cameras, laptop and phone were also taken away.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned Imaan’s arrest and demanded her immediate and unconditional release. The organisation, terming the action of the Islamabad police unacceptable, said on platform X, “The manner in which the Islamabad Police broke into her home, allegedly without a warrant, is unacceptable and points to a larger, more worrying pattern of state-sanctioned violence against people exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly.”
Last week, Imaan reportedly addressed in Islamabad a rally of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a group of ethnic Pushtu-speaking activists highly critical of the army, and criticised the powerful military establishment. A young lawyer and activist, Imaan has been quite vocal and faced a criminal case last year for using abusive language against the then army chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.