I received a call from an official number of Islamabad on the 24th of September, 2020, at 2 o'clock and it was said that a petition has been filed against me in the FIA Cyber Crime Wing. According to the complainant, my articles and activities on social media are against the state. The office was asked to clean up, otherwise unilateral action will be taken. As soon as I heard the call, blood sugar and blood pressure levels rose due to fear and anxiety. I wanted to hide the matter from the family but my wife had heard it.
As soon as she entered the room, she started crying saying, “What have you done?” I said: “Nothing is serious and everything is fine.”
I barely calmed her and sent her back to the room so that the daughters would not know.
Young journalists Sabuh Syed, Ali Warsi, Hanifa Abbasi, Maryam Khan from USA, Atif Tauqeer from Germany and later Matiullah Jan, Raza Rumi, Murtaza Solangi, Jibran Nasir and Haris Khalique were informed. Rehman Advocate, Sajid Tanoli Advocate, Zafar Minhas, Raja Sajid, close friend Raja Ijaz and friends from social media have fully supported me. They say, “We are with you, there is no need to panic.”
It so happened that on the morning of the 1st of October, a notice came from the FIA Cyber Crime Wing, but for appearance, the date 30 September 2020 was mentioned. The shadows of fear began to hover again. The horror movie of diabetes, disability, homelessness, children, wife's illness and disability began to play out. What would happen?
I am a citizen of a state that is frightening me instead of protecting me. I have Pakistani identity card and passport. I pay taxes. What is the state doing for me? As a citizen of the state, I seem to have no rights.
Suppose for a moment that an anti-state passage were written (which is not the case in my writings – not a single letter in any of my articles published on newspapers and digital media platforms and in any post on social media can be demonstrated to be anti-state). Isn't it the duty of the state to quell the resentment of its citizens? The state is like a mother. It is the duty of the state to provide basic human needs to every citizen. When the state neglects its duties, citizens are deprived of justice, employment, health and education. Then the state becomes meaningless for them.
Patriotism and loyalty to the state that are created through force cannot be maintained. The state can only tell the citizens about their duties after fulfilling its duties. The state should assure the rights of the citizens given in the Constitution and then question them. If the state fails to fulfill its constitutional duty, it will be more accurate to speak of a state mafia which is occupying the state.
When we speak of “the state,” it does not mean only the ruling class. The rulers cannot have a monopoly and the rest of the citizens simply be subjugated to them.
The state's pledge is for modern democracy, human rights, equality and personal freedoms. These things are not compatible with any forms of slavery and subjugation. And no expediency can be exercised as far as these basic, inalienable rights are concerned.
The Constitution of Pakistan gives every citizen the right to express his or her views. State authorities are obliged to abide by the constitution and international charters to give all kinds of fundamental rights to citizens.
It is a basic human right to ask the state as to why I am being intimidated.
As soon as she entered the room, she started crying saying, “What have you done?” I said: “Nothing is serious and everything is fine.”
I barely calmed her and sent her back to the room so that the daughters would not know.
Young journalists Sabuh Syed, Ali Warsi, Hanifa Abbasi, Maryam Khan from USA, Atif Tauqeer from Germany and later Matiullah Jan, Raza Rumi, Murtaza Solangi, Jibran Nasir and Haris Khalique were informed. Rehman Advocate, Sajid Tanoli Advocate, Zafar Minhas, Raja Sajid, close friend Raja Ijaz and friends from social media have fully supported me. They say, “We are with you, there is no need to panic.”
It so happened that on the morning of the 1st of October, a notice came from the FIA Cyber Crime Wing, but for appearance, the date 30 September 2020 was mentioned. The shadows of fear began to hover again. The horror movie of diabetes, disability, homelessness, children, wife's illness and disability began to play out. What would happen?
I am a citizen of a state that is frightening me instead of protecting me. I have Pakistani identity card and passport. I pay taxes. What is the state doing for me? As a citizen of the state, I seem to have no rights.
Suppose for a moment that an anti-state passage were written (which is not the case in my writings – not a single letter in any of my articles published on newspapers and digital media platforms and in any post on social media can be demonstrated to be anti-state). Isn't it the duty of the state to quell the resentment of its citizens? The state is like a mother. It is the duty of the state to provide basic human needs to every citizen. When the state neglects its duties, citizens are deprived of justice, employment, health and education. Then the state becomes meaningless for them.
Patriotism and loyalty to the state that are created through force cannot be maintained. The state can only tell the citizens about their duties after fulfilling its duties. The state should assure the rights of the citizens given in the Constitution and then question them. If the state fails to fulfill its constitutional duty, it will be more accurate to speak of a state mafia which is occupying the state.
When we speak of “the state,” it does not mean only the ruling class. The rulers cannot have a monopoly and the rest of the citizens simply be subjugated to them.
The state's pledge is for modern democracy, human rights, equality and personal freedoms. These things are not compatible with any forms of slavery and subjugation. And no expediency can be exercised as far as these basic, inalienable rights are concerned.
The Constitution of Pakistan gives every citizen the right to express his or her views. State authorities are obliged to abide by the constitution and international charters to give all kinds of fundamental rights to citizens.
It is a basic human right to ask the state as to why I am being intimidated.