Mushtaq Ahmad released after alleged arrest by security personnel

Former Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) senator Mushtaq Ahmad was released on Thursday after his team alleged that he had been detained for more than 24 hours after security personnel denied him entry into Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), alleging that his detention was related to his support for the ongoing protests in the region.

In a statement posted on X, the administrator of Ahmad’s official account announced: “Praise be to Allah! Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan has been released.”

The statement further said that the former senator had been held in “illegal detention” and announced that he would “hold an important conversation with the public and media” at a press conference scheduled for 2pm on Thursday at the Pakistan Rights Movement Central Secretariat in Islamabad.

The development came after clashes between law enforcement personnel and banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) protesters were reported in Rawalakot, with reports of multiple deaths and injuries circulating on social media. Both the security forces and the JAAC took a toll on the loss of life.

According to an earlier statement issued on his

The statement said he was stopped at the Azad Pattan Bridge and denied entry into AJK before recording a protest and beginning his return journey to Islamabad.

He alleged that at around 7:07 pm, Punjab Police intercepted his vehicle at Kahuta Bazaar, where “Punjab Police detained him… and forcibly took him away in their vehicle.”

The statement further alleged that “Kahuta Circle Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Waqar, took control of the car by taking away the steering wheel from the driver”, while the vehicles accompanying Ahmad were temporarily stopped before being allowed to proceed.

According to the statement, Ahmad’s team members later contacted him and asked him to share his live location on WhatsApp, indicating that he had been taken to Rawat Police Station on GT Road. “On reaching the police station, our team made all-out efforts to meet Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, however, the police denied him access,” he said.

He added that the last contact with Ahmad occurred at 12:26 a.m. on Wednesday, when he allegedly told his team that “police officials indicated that some senior officials in Rawalpindi wanted to meet him.”

The statement further claimed that when Pakistan Rights Movement’s main organizer Daniyal Abdullah contacted SHO Raja Iftikhar at Rawat Police Station around 1:20 am, the officer “strongly denied that Senator Mushtaq had ever been brought to Rawat Police Station and claimed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts”.

Read: PTI seeks judicial probe into Rawalakot violence, rejects AJK polls

Describing the incident as a “forced disappearance in broad daylight”, the post added that it “raises significant concerns and highlights the lack of rule of law in Pakistan”.

He further alleged that “no arrest warrant, formal charge or legal justification” was presented to the team accompanying Ahmad and said authorities had not revealed “his current location or physical condition”, “the legal basis for his detention”, “the police station or agency holding him” or “whether any criminal case has been registered against him”.

The statement called on the federal and Punjab governments to “immediately reveal the location of Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan”, “ensure his physical safety and access to his family and lawyer”, “produce him before a competent court without delay”, “publicly clarify the legal basis for his detention” and “immediately release him unless he is charged with a cognizable criminal offense through due process”.

The alleged arrest provoked rapid reactions from politicians and opposition parties.

The opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP) released a video highlighting Ahmed’s activities in Kashmir along with the message: “Free Senator Mushtaq.”

Former Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair also demanded the release of the former senator, stating that his whereabouts remained unknown more than 24 hours later.

“He was arrested and detained yesterday while returning from Azad Kashmir. We demand his immediate release and those responsible for this act must be exposed,” he added.

Former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar similarly condemned the incident and said Ahmed had been detained at Kahuta Bazaar by the Punjab Police while returning from AJK before being detained.

“His whereabouts remain unknown. This is a blatant violation of the law by a repressive regime where no citizen is safe from its authoritarian tactics,” Khokhar wrote in X.

Political activist Ammar Ali Jan also condemned the incident, calling it “another criminal act by the current regime.”

In a post on

Clashes in AJK this week, which prompted Ahmad’s visit to the region, have sparked widespread condemnation from political parties and human rights groups following reports of deaths and injuries during the protests.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was “deeply alarmed” by the reports and stressed that maintaining public order “should never come at the expense of the right to life or the freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression.” He called for a “prompt, impartial and independent investigation” into the reported deaths and injuries.

Opposition parties also condemned the violence. The PTI demanded an “immediate, independent, transparent and impartial judicial investigation”, calling the reported deaths and injuries an attack on “human rights, democratic values ​​and civil liberties”.

TTAP denounced what it called the use of “excessive force” against protesters, while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman described the shooting of civilians as “open terrorism.”

Ahmad had previously drawn national attention after being detained by Israeli forces while aboard the Sumud Global Flotilla, a humanitarian mission transporting food and medicine to Gaza.

Leading a five-member Pakistani delegation, his detention sparked widespread concern in Pakistan, with the Foreign Ministry saying it had worked “tirelessly” to ensure his safe evacuation through Pakistan’s embassy in Jordan. After his release, he returned to Islamabad to a hero’s welcome, where he was greeted by his supporters at the airport.

Background

AJK’s 53-member legislative assembly includes 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees, people who fled Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in 1947 and 1965 and are now scattered across Pakistan. Six seats represent refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 people) and six from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 people), an already imbalanced arrangement that many consider unfair.

The region witnessed one of its most turbulent periods in October last year, when protests led by the JAAC broke out over demands for constitutional and governance reforms. At least nine people, including three police officers, died during the riots.

The JAAC, which organized the protests and strike, had put forward a wide-ranging charter of demands, including an end to the privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite, the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for refugees, and the elimination of the quota system.

Two days after the violence, the government and the JAAC reached an agreement covering 12 basic and 13 additional points. Under the agreement, both sides agreed to constitute a high-level committee to examine the issue of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

The issue is currently at a stalemate: the JAAC calls for the seats to be abolished while the government rejects the demand.