ISLAMABAD: The government has released political prisoner and activist Baba Jan after nine years of imprisonment in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
Many protestors in Hunza wee demanding the release of Baba Jan, Iftikhar Karbalai and Shukoorullah Baig. The government reached an agreement that they would be freed after the completion of the election process.
Both prisoners were released on Friday evening from Ghahkuch jail in the presence of many well-wishers and supporters. Eleven prisoners had been released ahead of the election.
Baba Jan, a political activist from Hunza, is a member of the Awami Workers Party and the founding chairman of the Progressive Youth Front. Iftikhar Karbalai is a senior leader of the Karakoram National Movement, a regional political party.
He was serving life imprisonment in district Ghizer along with Iftikhar Karbalai and 13 other prisoners after being convicted by an anti-terrorism court over riots in 2011. Baba Jan was convicted by the court for participating in a demonstration against the killing of a man and his son by police on 11th August ,2011 in Hunza.
Baba Jan had launched a campaign after a landslide submerged several villages in Attabad in2010. The following year, he organised a movement demanding compensation for those affected by the disaster.
On August 12, 2011, police opened fire at the protesting internally displaced persons (IDPs) during the visit of then chief minister to Attabad Lake, killing two people. Baba Jan was not present at the incident but was arrested a month and booked under the anti-terrorist act and imprisoned.
He was granted bail in 2013 and continued his political activities but the bail was withdrawn and he was handed life imprisonment along with thirteen others. In 2015, he contested elections from prison and managed to gain the second-highest number of votes. He was not allowed to contest the recently-concluded election.
