Messages condemning the action poured in from politicians, human rights activists and others over the arrest of over sixty years old Ismat Raza Shahjahan, who suffers from a cardiac ailment. They demanded that concerned authorities conduct an in-depth inquiry into the matter and release the arrested residents of the katchi abadis and family members of well-known activist Ismat Shahjahan. With other notable politicians, Chairperson National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights, Dr. Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto has taken serious notice of the arrest of Ismat Shahjahan.
She condemned the arrest of human rights activists and demanded an in-depth inquiry into the matter. Talking to The Friday Times, Member Awami Worker Party Tooba Syed demanded that the FIR be immediately quashed. "Ismat Shahjahan is a heart patient. She was brutally thrashed in police custody," she said, mentioning that although Ismat Shahjahan was released after five hours of detention, her family members were sent to Adiala on judicial remand, only for raising their voices for the residents of the katchi abadi near Pind Sangriyal). Tooba Syed said that Ismat Shahjahan’s cellphone, which was snatched during the arrest, has still not been returned to her.
Tooba Syed said that Islamabad police has arrested around sixty people, mainly residents of the katchi abadi. She said the others arrested along with her remained in police custody without any charges filed against them by police in an official First Information Report (FIR).
The Islamabad police arrested protestors who were opposing the CDA’s action of forcible eviction against residents of the areas, who have lived in the locality for many decades.
She was of the view that the footage of thrashing Ismat Shahjahan would either be concealed or tampered with by the police station.
Condemning Islamabad police’s high-handed arrest, the Awami Workers Party (AWP), the Women’s Democratic Front (WDF), and members of civil society demanded an inquiry into the incident and justice.
The Women’s Democratic Forum, social and human rights activists, politicians and others in their tweets on social media condemned the incident and demanded that the FIR be quashed immediately.