ISLAMABAD: Lawyer and rights activist Jibran Nasir has been picked up by some unidentified persons in Karachi late Thursday night, as per his wife Mansha Pasha.
Mansha Pasha said that she was coming home with her husband after dinner at around 11pm when they were intercepted. She said in a video message while requesting prayers for her early recovery that around 15 men with pistols in plain clothes surrounded their vehicle and took her husband Jibran forcibly. She said that the men kept yelling at them to get out of the car and offered no explanation.
She stated in the complaint that a white colour Toyota car, having registration No BF-4356 intercepted and hit their car from the front left side and forced them to stop near Ideal Bakery on 26th Street, Defence Phase 5, Karachi. The complaint is yet to be filed.
She further said that another vehicle, a silver-colour Corolla car, blocked their vehicle from behind and as such, they were surrounded. According to her, around 15 people in civil clothes along with weapons came out of the vehicles and forced her husband to get out of the car, bundling him up towards their vehicle. She said that they then abducted Nasir and took him away and his whereabouts are unknown till now.
She asked for a swift release of her husband by taking immediate action against those “who abducted her husband”. Jibran Nasir, who contested in the general elections of 2018 from Karachi as an independent candidate, has been very vocal in his criticism of the recent state crackdown on the PTI and the legal process involving those who allegedly took part in the riots. He was listed by the Foreign Policy Magazine in 2013 amongst three other Pakistanis doing inspirational work against sectarian violence.
Last week, Sami Abraham, a senior journalist was taken away by unidentified men in Islamabad and returned home almost six days later.
بگاڑ کر بنائے جا , ابھار کر مٹائے جا
کہ میں تیرا چراغ ہوں جلائے جا بجھائے جا pic.twitter.com/iM73WdcldA— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) May 31, 2023
‘Extremely disturbing, condemnable’
As news of Jibran Nasir being ‘picked up’ spread, members of civil society as well as rights organizations raised their voices and concerns for his safety and called for his immediate recovery.
