This is the man who organized the police crackdown on vigil attendees yesterday in Karachi. But I have to start at the beginning.
Yesterday, a small group of citizens held a candle-light vigil outside the residence of Justice Bhagwandas. Bhagwandas is one of the Supreme Court judge who refused to take the PCO oath and had been under house arrest in Islamabad. Sometime in December, he officially reached retirement age, and reckoned that he could now "give up" his official post as Supreme Court judge. So he left his official residence in Islamabad and moved back to Karachi where his home is. Now you would think that the government would leave the poor guy alone, since he was now a private citizen. But that was not the case. Instead, on Friday, Bhagwandas was placed under house arrest again, this time in his personal home in Karachi, and this time in his capacity as a... citizen.
Of course the government claims that the house arrest was for "his own security" but the more likely reason is that they are scared. Bhagwandas addressed the Karachi Bar Association on Friday, at their induction ceremony. The tradition is that the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court addresses this ceremony, but for the first time, someone other than the Chief Justice was asked to speak (since the current Chief Justice is a PCO judge and is persona non grata in the legal community). Such symbolism is terrifying to those who are desperately clinging on to power. So Bhagwandas had to be stopped.
Back to the vigil. A small group of no more than 20 people were attending a peaceful vigil outside the Bhagwandas residence. There were several police vans and policemen gathered outside, plus several security people in plainclothes including the guy above. Soon a few members of the media arrived, and the police began getting very unhappy, first trying to intimidate the media and then harassing the vigil attendees. The guy above kept making calls on his mobile phone, and in between would come up and ask questions of the group. Eventually they decided to act. First, the police picked on a young middle-class man, by grabbing him from behind and dragging him off to the police van. The small group realized what was happening and immediately rushed to the defense of the man and managed to free him from police hands. About 5 minutes later or so, the electricity was cut and the entire block was plunged into darkness. That's when things turned really ugly. The police started going after the men in the group. One of the more seasoned activists in the group yelled out that the women should hold on to the men to try and prevent arrest. People started running around to get away from the cops. I held on to a young man desperately, while the man above yelled at me to let him go, otherwise he'd bring in the women's police and lock me up too. When I didn't let go, three other men joined the man and pulled the young man out of my arms. Like this, they arrested 8 men in total. The rest of the group managed to get away.
After much confusion, a crowd of people began gathering at the local thana to try and get these 8 released. Thus began the second vigil of the night. The police started telling their lies; first, that there were no people arrested at that thana, then that their hands were tied and we had to go to another thana to start negotiations, and finally after many other prevarications, negotiations began for the release of the detained. Finally the group was released after about 5 hours (they were charged and released on bail).
What was most interesting was the class angle in all of this. The arrested included middle-class young men - the "easy targets" for police - but there were also some rich and high-profile men as well. And it was the presence of the these rich and well-connected men in the group that secured the release of everyone in the end. It confirmed for me even more that what might change things in Pakistan is if the elite class mobilizes, because it is the elite class that can actually have an impact right now. Poor and middle-class people are all too easy to dismiss and harass and threaten, but at least for the time being, rich people are not. Of course there will come a time when the elite class too will be helpless in the face of dictatorship, but judging from last night, that time is a long way away.
Meanwhile I find myself thinking about two men - the young man pulled away from me, and the man above (his name is Asif Jakhrani, by the way; apparently he's the SHO of Defence/Clifton). What makes someone turn out to be a good guy and what makes someone else a bad guy? What does Mr. SHO think in his heart of hearts? Does he really want us to fail?
Update: Bhagwandas was released from house arrest on Tuesday. Many believe this is due to the bad publicity the government got from the arrests. Score one for our side!
Yesterday, a small group of citizens held a candle-light vigil outside the residence of Justice Bhagwandas. Bhagwandas is one of the Supreme Court judge who refused to take the PCO oath and had been under house arrest in Islamabad. Sometime in December, he officially reached retirement age, and reckoned that he could now "give up" his official post as Supreme Court judge. So he left his official residence in Islamabad and moved back to Karachi where his home is. Now you would think that the government would leave the poor guy alone, since he was now a private citizen. But that was not the case. Instead, on Friday, Bhagwandas was placed under house arrest again, this time in his personal home in Karachi, and this time in his capacity as a... citizen.
Of course the government claims that the house arrest was for "his own security" but the more likely reason is that they are scared. Bhagwandas addressed the Karachi Bar Association on Friday, at their induction ceremony. The tradition is that the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court addresses this ceremony, but for the first time, someone other than the Chief Justice was asked to speak (since the current Chief Justice is a PCO judge and is persona non grata in the legal community). Such symbolism is terrifying to those who are desperately clinging on to power. So Bhagwandas had to be stopped.
Back to the vigil. A small group of no more than 20 people were attending a peaceful vigil outside the Bhagwandas residence. There were several police vans and policemen gathered outside, plus several security people in plainclothes including the guy above. Soon a few members of the media arrived, and the police began getting very unhappy, first trying to intimidate the media and then harassing the vigil attendees. The guy above kept making calls on his mobile phone, and in between would come up and ask questions of the group. Eventually they decided to act. First, the police picked on a young middle-class man, by grabbing him from behind and dragging him off to the police van. The small group realized what was happening and immediately rushed to the defense of the man and managed to free him from police hands. About 5 minutes later or so, the electricity was cut and the entire block was plunged into darkness. That's when things turned really ugly. The police started going after the men in the group. One of the more seasoned activists in the group yelled out that the women should hold on to the men to try and prevent arrest. People started running around to get away from the cops. I held on to a young man desperately, while the man above yelled at me to let him go, otherwise he'd bring in the women's police and lock me up too. When I didn't let go, three other men joined the man and pulled the young man out of my arms. Like this, they arrested 8 men in total. The rest of the group managed to get away.
After much confusion, a crowd of people began gathering at the local thana to try and get these 8 released. Thus began the second vigil of the night. The police started telling their lies; first, that there were no people arrested at that thana, then that their hands were tied and we had to go to another thana to start negotiations, and finally after many other prevarications, negotiations began for the release of the detained. Finally the group was released after about 5 hours (they were charged and released on bail).
What was most interesting was the class angle in all of this. The arrested included middle-class young men - the "easy targets" for police - but there were also some rich and high-profile men as well. And it was the presence of the these rich and well-connected men in the group that secured the release of everyone in the end. It confirmed for me even more that what might change things in Pakistan is if the elite class mobilizes, because it is the elite class that can actually have an impact right now. Poor and middle-class people are all too easy to dismiss and harass and threaten, but at least for the time being, rich people are not. Of course there will come a time when the elite class too will be helpless in the face of dictatorship, but judging from last night, that time is a long way away.
Meanwhile I find myself thinking about two men - the young man pulled away from me, and the man above (his name is Asif Jakhrani, by the way; apparently he's the SHO of Defence/Clifton). What makes someone turn out to be a good guy and what makes someone else a bad guy? What does Mr. SHO think in his heart of hearts? Does he really want us to fail?
Update: Bhagwandas was released from house arrest on Tuesday. Many believe this is due to the bad publicity the government got from the arrests. Score one for our side!
