" A naib tehsildar paid a visit to my shop recently and threatened me to show him the banner inscribed with
anti-state slogans,” Said Ikramullah Baig, a local businessman and supporter of Awami Workers Party (AWP) leader Baba Jan. He said “I assured him that we did not have such
material and are not against the state. However, the officials did not listen
to me. He ransacked my shop and said he would find the banner himself.”
Ikramullah added, “While he was searching through the shop, a group
of politicians, who were also present at the shop, objected to his actions.”
According to Ikramullah, the official did not have a search
warrant.
“When he was asked if he had a search warrant, the naib
tehsildar said he had the authority to search the premises without a warrant,”
he said.
Ikramullah said a banner has been put up near his shop
during protests against the withdrawal of rebate.
“The banner carried slogans against the imposition of
taxes,” he said. “There was nothing unusual about them as similar slogans and
banners were seen across the region.”
Link with by-elections?
“Such instances of harassment could be a means to keep AWP
workers from voting,” Ikramullah said.
He added by-elections are scheduled to be held at GBLA-6,
Hunza this year and such tactics could be an attempt to suppress the voices of
these workers.
The seat fell vacant after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
candidate Mir Ghazanfar was made the governor. Jan, who contested polls from
behind bars, stood runner-up.
In August 2011, 25 out of the 457 families whose land was
affected by the formation of Attabad Lake took to the streets in Aliabad in
Hunza. Police wanted to disperse the protesters to clear Karakoram Highway for
the then chief minister, Mehdi Shah, who was visiting the valley.
Hence, teargas was used and gunshots were fired. During the
firing, Sherullah Baig and his son Afzal Baig, along two protesters, were
killed. This further agitated protesters and they eventually torched government
offices and looted a police station in Aliabad.
Police registered a case and arrested over 100 suspects,
including Baba Jan. A judicial probe was conducted but the report was not made
public.
Jan was sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism
court in Gilgit last year for ransacking police stations and torching
government property in Hunza.
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