News Desk |
Islamabad High Court (IHC) has disposed of a petition seeking removal of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Gulalai Ismail’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL) by declaring it infructuous.
Petition seeking removal of PTM leader’s name from the no-fly list came up for hearing before IHC’s Justice Aamer Farooq. The law officer Raja Khalid informed the court that Ismail’s passport has already been returned but her name has not been removed from ECL because of her alleged involvement in criminal activities.
Online news service reported that the court wrapped up the petition declaring it infructuous.
Gulalai, a women’s rights activist, was awarded the ‘Reach all Women in War’ Anna Politkovskaya Award in 2017. She co-founded a non-governmental organization, Aware Girls, with sister Saba Ismail in 2002.
Police arrested the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Gulalai Ismail on Monday from Peshawar in cases registered against her in Islamabad under the anti-terrorism act for delivering ‘anti-state’ speeches.
Police Arrest Ismail from Peshawar
On June 10, the PTM activist was arrested during a raid under the supervision of SHO Koral in Peshawar. The cases against PTM activist were registered in Shehzad town and Koral police stations for allegedly making anti-state speech and inciting Pashtuns against the government and armed forces.
Read more: PTM’s Gulalai Ismail arrested from Peshawar
It was stated in the FIR that Ismail delivered an anti-state and hate speech during a protest rally organized in Islamabad against murder and alleged rape of a 10-year-old girl. Earlier, Ismail’s name was blacklisted in connection with anti-state speeches case and all the airports across the country were informed in this regard.
Gulalai Ismail Faces Sedition, Terrorism Charges
In May, Islamabad police filed a case against the PTM leader Ismail for allegedly defaming state institutions, creating unrest and inciting violence.
The first information report (FIR) lodged against the Ismail mentions sections 500 (punishment for defamation), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups, etc) and 124-A (sedition) of the Pakistan Penal Code, as well as sections 6/7 of the Anti-terrorism Act, 1997.
The ISPR DG had accused PTM of getting funds from Afghanistan’s secret agency, National Directorate of Security (NDS) and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
According to the FIR, Ismail purportedly incited law-abiding citizens to commit treason and violence, while addressing a protest demonstration against the brutal rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in Islamabad. The FIR accuses Ismail of delivering hate speech, inciting ethnic sentiments against the state and Pakistan Army, and causing a sense of fear and terror among people.
PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework.
Gulalai – The Women’s Rights Activist
Gulalai, a women’s rights activist, was awarded the ‘Reach all Women in War’ Anna Politkovskaya Award in 2017. She co-founded a non-governmental organization, Aware Girls, with sister Saba Ismail in 2002. The organization aims to strengthen the leadership skills of young people, especially women and girls, enabling them to act as agents of change for women empowerment and peacebuilding.
Read more: Gulalai Ismail: Patriot or a traitor?
DG ISPR Presser
On April 29, the Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a press conference that some officials of the PTM were trying to mislead the people to provoke them against Pakistan and its institutions.
While assuring that the armed forces were working tirelessly to fulfill PTM’s demand for the recovery of missing persons, DG ISPR had indicated about taking legal action against the PTM leadership saying “their time is up.” The ISPR DG had accused PTM of getting funds from Afghanistan’s secret agency, National Directorate of Security (NDS) and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Read more: Gulalai Ismail wins recognition for her fight against Taliban ideology
“Those people who are playing with the people whose issues they have brought forward, I would like to tell them that their time is up. Their time is up,” he reiterated. “Problems and demands are genuine and we want to help the people. But the time is up for the people who are using the problems for their benefit,” the DG had said.