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First Post
26-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Youth political activist Asif Saeed Sakhi arrested without charges amid intensifying crackdown in PoK
Amid ongoing political crackdown in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the local police have arrested Asif Saeed Sakhi, Vice President of the Awami Workers Party (AWP), a prominent left-leaning political group in the region read more Amid ongoing political crackdown in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the local police have arrested Asif Saeed Sakhi, Vice President of the Awami Workers Party (AWP), a prominent left-leaning political group in the region. The information was shared on X by Javed Beigh, India's representative at the United Nations and a vocal advocate for the integration of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) with India's Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, respectively. In a long post on X along with sharing Sakhi's pictures, Beigh wrote, 'This is a photo of ASIF SAEED SAKHI, a youth political activist from minority Muslim sectarian community of ISMAILI MUSLIMS behind bars in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir's (PoK's) Gilgit and Baltistan region, which is also known as Pakistan Occupied Gilgit and Baltistan (PoGB).' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD PAKISTAN CRACK DOWN IN PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) CONTINUES, even as the world ignores the plight of the people of PoK.... This is a photo of ASIF SAEED SAKHI, a youth political activist from minority Muslim sectarian community of ISMAILI MUSLIMS behind bars in Pakistan… — Javed Beigh (@JavedBeigh) May 26, 2025 According to Beigh, Sakhi was arrested by police in Gulmit without any formal charges or the registration of a First Information Report (FIR), raising serious concerns about arbitrary detentions and the suppression of political dissent. 'Asif Saeed Sakhi is Vice President of PoGB's Awami Workers Party (AWP), a communist political party, a prominent political part of PoGB. He has been detained without charges by the local police of the puppet regime of Pakistan People's Party's (PPP) local Chief Minister Gulbahar Khan, which is seen as the puppet of the Punjabi Muslim ruling elite based in Islamabad & Rawalpindi,' he added. According to Beigh, Sakhi belongs to the Wakhi speaking Ismaili Muslim community which is a minority Muslim community in Pakistan but constitutes a major religious community in PoGB. The Wakhi community of PoGB are Tajik Farsi speaking communities who are culturally close to Wakhi speaking Ismaili communities of Gorno Badakshan in Tajikistan, Xinjiang province in China & Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, he added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Before 1947, this used to be the northernmost border of British India and was part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir but after 1947, Pakistan illegally occupied this part of PoK depriving India its natural borders with Tajikistan, Afghanistan and wider Central Asia,' Beigh wrote. The arrest comes in the wake of mounting unrest over the controversial 'Land Reforms Act,' recently passed by the local assembly, widely seen as a rubber-stamp body operating under the control of Pakistan's central government. Critics argue the act enables land acquisition at the cost of indigenous communities and has triggered protests across the region. Several political leaders, including Ehsan Ali Advocate of the Awami Action Committee, have also been arrested in recent weeks as part of what many describe as a coordinated crackdown by the Pakistan People's Party-led regional administration, headed by Chief Minister Gulbahar Khan. Detractors have labelled the government a 'puppet regime' acting under the directives of the Punjabi-dominated ruling elite in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The arrest of Asif Saeed Sakhi has sparked a wave of condemnation and concern. The local Hunza court's decision to grant a two-day physical remand has further fueled outrage, with many in PoGB calling the move illegal and a clear act of retaliation by the local puppet regime of PoGB under the orders of the state of Pakistan. The people of PoGB say that the Hunza administration and police of PoGB appear to be pursuing a campaign of targeted harassment and retaliation against him,' wrote Beigh. Sakhi's arrest has sparked widespread calls for his immediate release and an impartial investigation. His supporters allege that the PoGB administration and police are engaged in a campaign of targeted harassment against dissident voices. Adding to the complexity is the assertion that Sakhi is an Indian citizen, originally from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), territory that India considers illegally occupied since 1947. 'ASIF SAEED SAKHI is an INDIAN CITIZEN from PoK. The million dollar question is, why is India not condemning Pakistani State oppression on the people of PoK, whom we Indians consider as part of our own ?' he asked. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Beigh wondered why India was choosing to ignore the plight of the people of PoGB and PoJK and urged the Indian government to take a more active stance. 'Why is India choosing to ignore the plight of the people of POGB and POJK, who we consider as Indians living under illegal occupation of Pakistan since 1947?' he asked.
Arab News
09-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
In Pakistan's capital, hundreds of women march to demand equality
ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of women carrying placards and shouting slogans for equality took to the streets of Pakistan's capital on Saturday afternoon, demanding an end to gender-based violence and sexual harassment in the South Asian country. The Aurat March — Urdu for 'women's march' — began in 2018 as a single march for International Women's Day held in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi. However, it has become an annual event held in multiple cities. The marches have faced opposition from religious conservatives who allege the group receives Western funding as part of a plot to promote obscenity in Pakistan. The organizers deny this, saying the marches are locally funded with grassroots participation and focus on equal rights and opportunities for women. This year's march by the Islamabad chapter of the Aurat March was organized under the theme: 'Feminist Politics vs Patriarchal State.' Aurat March said this year's protest aimed to confront an oppressive state that seeks to silence women, minorities and transgenders. Hundreds of men and women, including activists and people from all walks of life, gathered at the National Press Club on Saturday to register their protest. 'The main reason for celebrating this day (Mar. 8) has always been that we resolve to continue our struggle,' Ismat Raza Shahjahan, a leader of the left-wing Awami Workers Party, told Arab News. 'And at the same time we will defend the rights we have secured and move forward with the agenda of gender equality.' Shaheena Kausar, one of the march's organizers, criticized police for stopping the Aurat March from marching beyond a few miles from the National Press Club. She regretted the authorities' decision to not grant permission to Aurat March to hold its gathering beyond the press club. 'This time as well we had applied in advance and also went for meetings [for a no-objection certificate] but we were not given the NOC,' Kausar told Arab News. 'You can see, they stopped us a few meters after we marched.' When asked why the Islamabad chapter of the Aurat March had held its gathering on Mar. 8 despite it being the month of Ramadan, in which Muslims fast from dawn till dusk, Kausar said: 'If the injustices against women are not stopping in Ramadan, then how can the march be stopped?' In Pakistan, just 21 percent of women are in the workforce and less than 20 percent of girls in rural areas are enrolled in secondary school, according to the United Nations. Only 12 women were directly elected to parliament out of 266 seats in last year's election. Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of 'honor,' with women beholden to their male relatives over choices around education, employment and who they can marry. Hundreds of women are killed by men in Pakistan every year for allegedly breaching this code. Moin, an Islamabad resident and a father of three daughters, said he has been coming to the Aurat March's annual event ever since it started to demand equal rights for women. 'Why do I come? Well, to change the country, to sort of give a voice to help women and girls to work shoulder-to-shoulder with men,' Moin told Arab News. 'Otherwise, we don't have a future.'
