Rights lawyer Jibran Nasir on Wednesday opened up about how he and his wife were offloaded while attempting to travel to Dubai ahead of Eidul Adha earlier this year, terming it part of a series of events that seek to intimidate him into giving up his work.
In a post on the social media site Twitter on Wednesday, Nasir stated that he and his wife, actor Mansha Pasha were scheduled to fly to Dubai via the Emirati airline Emirates.
He said that they reached the airport ahead of their flight on June 27. After checking in their luggage and obtaining their boarding passes, they headed towards the immigration counter.
Nasir stated that they were cleared by the immigration counter and that their passports were marked with black ink stamps reading "Exit" and the corresponding exit date. At that point, they were legally out of Pakistan.
As they headed towards the departure lounge, Nasir said that an official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intercepted them and asked to see their passports again.
The official, Nasir said, "appeared to be receiving instructions from someone on his phone."
"He took our passports and read our names to the person on the phone and confirmed "Yahi log hain aap kay" (Are these the people you were looking for), after which we were made to miss our flight, our baggage returned and offloaded stamps affixed on our passports. "
Nasir said that he and his wife were offered no formal explanation for this move, except for "Samjha karain sir, hamain instructions hain aap ko janay nahi dena" (Please understand, we have instructions to not let you leave).
The lawyer continued that he subsequently sent legal notices to the Federal Interior Ministry, the ministry which oversees the FIA, but received no explanation from there either.
On Wednesday, Nasir said that the Sindh High Court (SHC) had issued notices to the concerned ministry and government departments seeking an explanation for the lawyer's "harassment and unlawful restriction on travel".
Nasir recounted how he was abducted by around 15 armed men in Karachi on June 1 as he returned home along with his wife.
The lawyer returned less than 24 hours later, but he recounted how during his captivity, his captors "acted with the confidence and bravado of having official authority" and attempted to intimidate Nasir into giving up on his human rights work and cases.
"I see the incident of June 27 and restriction on my family's travel as a continuation of the unlawful and unconstitutional tactics adopted on June 1 to harass and intimidate me and my family," he said.
Defiantly, Nasir said he does not intend to give up on his human rights work and political activism, nor does he have any intention of moving out of Pakistan.
"Will stay here and will keep resisting unlawful and unconstitutional policies and actions of any and all institutions," he added.
https://twitter.com/MJibranNasir/status/1689135168450445313
In a post on the social media site Twitter on Wednesday, Nasir stated that he and his wife, actor Mansha Pasha were scheduled to fly to Dubai via the Emirati airline Emirates.
He said that they reached the airport ahead of their flight on June 27. After checking in their luggage and obtaining their boarding passes, they headed towards the immigration counter.
Nasir stated that they were cleared by the immigration counter and that their passports were marked with black ink stamps reading "Exit" and the corresponding exit date. At that point, they were legally out of Pakistan.
As they headed towards the departure lounge, Nasir said that an official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intercepted them and asked to see their passports again.
The official, Nasir said, "appeared to be receiving instructions from someone on his phone."
"He took our passports and read our names to the person on the phone and confirmed "Yahi log hain aap kay" (Are these the people you were looking for), after which we were made to miss our flight, our baggage returned and offloaded stamps affixed on our passports. "
Nasir said that he and his wife were offered no formal explanation for this move, except for "Samjha karain sir, hamain instructions hain aap ko janay nahi dena" (Please understand, we have instructions to not let you leave).
The lawyer continued that he subsequently sent legal notices to the Federal Interior Ministry, the ministry which oversees the FIA, but received no explanation from there either.
On Wednesday, Nasir said that the Sindh High Court (SHC) had issued notices to the concerned ministry and government departments seeking an explanation for the lawyer's "harassment and unlawful restriction on travel".
Nasir recounted how he was abducted by around 15 armed men in Karachi on June 1 as he returned home along with his wife.
The lawyer returned less than 24 hours later, but he recounted how during his captivity, his captors "acted with the confidence and bravado of having official authority" and attempted to intimidate Nasir into giving up on his human rights work and cases.
"I see the incident of June 27 and restriction on my family's travel as a continuation of the unlawful and unconstitutional tactics adopted on June 1 to harass and intimidate me and my family," he said.
Defiantly, Nasir said he does not intend to give up on his human rights work and political activism, nor does he have any intention of moving out of Pakistan.
"Will stay here and will keep resisting unlawful and unconstitutional policies and actions of any and all institutions," he added.
https://twitter.com/MJibranNasir/status/1689135168450445313