Mushtaq Ahmad released after alleged detention by security personnel

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

In a statement posted on X, the administrator for 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 were reported between law enforcement personnel and the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) protesters in Rawalakot, with reports of multiple deaths and injuries circulating on social media. Both security forces and the JAAC claimed the loss of lives.

According to an earlier statement issued late on Wednesday night on his X account, the former senator was travelling to AJK on Tuesday “carrying white flags to express solidarity with the innocent people of Kashmir who have lost loved ones due to violence by security forces.”

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

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

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

According to the statement, members of Ahmad’s team later contacted him and asked him to share his live WhatsApp location, which indicated he had been taken to Rawat Police Station on GT Road. “Upon arriving at the police station, our team made every effort to meet with Mushtaq Ahmad Khan; however, access was denied by the police,” it said.

It added that the last contact with Ahmad came at 12:26am on Wednesday, when he allegedly told his team that “police officials indicated that some senior officials from Rawalpindi wished to meet with him.”

The statement further stated that when Pakistan Rights Movement Chief Organiser Daniyal Abdullah contacted SHO Raja Iftikhar at Rawat Police Station around 1:20am, the officer “outright denied that Senator Mushtaq was ever brought to the Rawat Police Station and claimed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts.”

Read: PTI seeks judicial inquiry 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.”

It further alleged that “no arrest warrant, formal charge or legal justification was presented” to Ahmad’s accompanying team and said authorities had failed to disclose “his current location or physical condition,” “the legal grounds for his detention,” “the police station or agency holding him,” or “whether any criminal case has been registered against him.”

The statement had called on the federal and Punjab governments to “immediately disclose Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan’s location,” “guarantee his physical safety and access to his family and legal counsel,” “produce him before a competent court without delay,” “publicly clarify the legal basis for his detention,” and “release him immediately unless he is charged with a recognisable criminal offence through due process.”

The alleged detention prompted swift reactions from opposition politicians and parties.

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

Former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair also demanded the former senator’s release, saying that his whereabouts remained unknown more than 24 hours after.

“He was stopped and taken into custody while returning from Azad Kashmir yesterday. 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, saying Ahmed had been stopped at Kahuta Bazaar by Punjab Police while returning from AJK before being taken into custody.

“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 on X.

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

In a post on X, he said, “His only crime is demonstrating meaningful solidarity for Kashmiris who face repression,” adding that “someone who risked his life for people in Gaza is now part of the ever-growing list of missing persons. Shameful!”

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

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

Opposition parties also condemned the violence. PTI demanded an “immediate, independent, transparent and impartial judicial investigation,” describing the reported deaths and injuries as 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 firing on civilians as “open terrorism.”

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

Leading a five-member Pakistani delegation, his detention prompted widespread concern in Pakistan, with the Foreign Office saying it had worked “tirelessly” to secure his safe evacuation through Pakistan’s embassy in Jordan. After his release, he returned to Islamabad to a hero’s welcome, where he was received by 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 lopsided arrangement that many see as unfair.

The region witnessed one of its most turbulent periods in October last year when protests led by the JAAC erupted over demands for constitutional and governance reforms. At least nine people, including three policemen, were killed during the unrest.

The JAAC, which organised the protests and strike, had presented 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 scrapping of the quota system.

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

The matter is at a deadlock at the moment, with the JAAC calling for the abolition of the seats while the government rejects the demand.