Gulalai Ismail’s father, professor Muhammad Ismail, aged 69, is a prominent member of Pakistani civil society and a human rights defender.

The court was set to announce the verdict in an earlier hearing, however, the verdict was postponed until February 15th.

Today Peshawar anti-terrosim court will announce the verdict of the malafide sedition&terrorism case against my parents. The case was registered in July2019 and my parents were acquitted in August2020. A month later the case was reopened and my parents put on a torturous trial. https://t.co/PK4LMpAKdh

— Gulalai Ismail ګلالۍاسماعیل (@Gulalai_Ismail) February 15, 2023

A slew of cases was registered against professor Ismail and his wife after daughter Gulalai Ismail had gone into hiding in 2019 amid a growing crackdown against the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement leaders.

At the time, Gulalai Ismail was nominated in a case in Islamabad for allegedly defaming state institutions and inciting violence through a speech delivered in a demonstration against the sexual abuse and killing of a minor girl.

Gulalai Ismail is currently living in self-exile in the US.

Earlier in another case, an anti-terrorism court also acquitted the family of terrorism charges due to lack of evidence.

Human Rights Activists Welcome Acquittal: 

National Democratic Movement (NDM) member Khushal Khan Khattak said: “Great news! Parents of @NDM_Official leader @Gulalai_Ismail have been acquitted by ATC in Peshawar. They had been charged with sedition, conspiracy against state, terrorism and terror financing. Congratulations to @ProfMIsmail and his wife!”

Great news! Parents of @NDM_Official leader @Gulalai_Ismail have been acquitted by ATC in Peshawar. They had been charged with sedition, conspiracy against state, terrorism and terror financing. Congratulations to @ProfMIsmail and his wife! pic.twitter.com/tHgbJY6ZNH

— Khushal Khan (@Khushal_Khattak) February 15, 2023

Lawyer and activist Nighat Dad said: “Finally Gulalai_Ismail parents are acquitted from wrongful accusations and Ali Wazir is released too. No family should go through the trauma what their families had to face in last couple of years. Congrats to all those who have been persistent in raising their plight.”

Finally @Gulalai_Ismail parents are acquitted from wrongful accusations and Ali Wazir is released too. No family should go through the trauma what their families had to face in last couple of years. Congrats to all those who have been persistent in raising their plight. pic.twitter.com/EBTPaHoPNK

— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) February 15, 2023

NDM leader Mohsin Dawar said: “Congratulations to Prof M Ismail and his wife, parents of @NDM_Official leader @Gulalai_Ismail, who have been acquitted by the ATC in Peshawar in the fake case filed against them. They have been harassed and persecuted for far too long. Their resolve remains unshaken.”

Congratulations to @ProfMIsmail and his wife, parents of @NDM_Official leader @Gulalai_Ismail, who have been acquitted by the ATC in Peshawar in the fake case filed against them. They have been harassed and persecuted for far too long. Their resolve remains unshaken. pic.twitter.com/8VxaE3vI0E

— Mohsin Dawar (@mjdawar) February 15, 2023

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The ATC was set to announce the verdict today, however, the case was adjourned.

The case concluded two weeks ago.

The court didn’t announce the verdict today and adjourned the case to 15th Feb. Thank you, everyone, for your messages of support and solidarity. https://t.co/PK4LMpBi2P

— Gulalai Ismail ګلالۍاسماعیل (@Gulalai_Ismail) February 8, 2023

Gulalai Ismail’s father, Professor Muhammad Ismail, aged 69, is a prominent member of Pakistani civil society and a human rights defender.

Gulalai Ismail is living in self-exile in the US after a case was registered against her in Islamabad for allegedly defaming state institutions and inciting violence through a speech delivered in a demonstration against the sexual abuse and killing of a minor girl.

On July 6th, 2019, the counter-terrorism department (CTD) registered an FIR under Section 11-N of the Anti-Terrorism Act charging Gulalai Ismail, her father Mohammad Ismail, and her mother Uzlifat, with being sympathisers of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.

However, an anti-terrorism court refused to indict the family on the said charges due to  lack of evidence.

On October 24, 2019, professor Ismail was arrested from outside the Peshawar High Court when he had gone to attend the hearing of the same case on sedition charges. The 69-year-old got conditional bail in November of the same year after spending 33 days in detention.

In September 2020, new charges related to sedition and conspiracy were filed against the family. Professor Ismail was arrested and denied bail initially.

On January 4, 2023, cyberterrorism and hate speech charges were brought in against Professor Ismail.

Human rights activists have continuously condemned the charges filed against the family and deemed the cases to be filed with “malafide intention”.

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That being said, the Pakistan Army cannot redeem itself by merely stating that it committed unconstitutional activities and will avoid them in the future. If General (retd) Bajwa’s statement is actually a step towards course correction, Pakistan Army will have to prove that it is disengaging itself from politics. Apart from putting an end to the act of favouring and/or disfavouring political parties, this policy-shift (if there is one) should also include ending the practice of pressuring courts, manipulating media and threatening independent activists and journalists. The institution needs to show that it has begun respecting civl liberties.

Pakistan Army will be truly believed to have stopped going beyond its constitutionally-mandated role if the following steps are taken:

1) Release Ali Wazir

An elected member of the parliament, Ali Wazir, is in jail on fabricated charges since December 2020. The fact that even bails granted to him in the many sedition cases registered against him do not guarantee his release from prison means that it is the military’s decision to keep him behind bars. Sindh government and even Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have expressed their inability to do something about the continued persecution of an elected parliamentarian. If the establishment no longer believes in meddling in politics, Ali Wazir should be released and mistreatment of ethnic minorities and their representatives must end.

2) End persecution of activist Gulalai Ismail’s parents

Human rights activist Gulalai Ismail who had to flee Pakistan after continued death threats over her anti-establishment activism is often seeing sharing photos of her elderly parents outside anti-terrorism court where they have to appear regularly for hearings of terrorism and sedition cases registered against them. The elderly couple is being punished for their daughter’s fearless advocacy of the Pashtun community. Since the establishment can no longer harm Gulalai because she managed to leave the country unharmed, they resorted to persecuting her parents. The cases against the couple are malicious and must be withdrawn if the military is serious about restoring its image.

3) End all forms of surveillance

Surveillance by the establishment is considered a norm in Pakistan, and secret videos of politicians and public figures are recorded and later used to blackmail them. Apart from politicians, activists and journalists are also routinely followed and their phones tapped. This surveillance is sometimes used as a scare tactic, and threatening calls from untraceable numbers are made to journalists and activists. This practice of intimidating dissenting voices into silence is another habit that the establishment must overcome if it wants the public to believe the former army chief’s statement.

4) Start respecting the Constitution

Every few months, pro-military accounts and even some commentators on TV start floating the idea of Presidential system in Pakistan, saying that it is the only way to ‘save’ the country. Petitions demanding the same are filed in the courts by the usual suspects. If the military has truly disengaged itself from politics, such narrative-building to confuse the nation and undermine the democratic system in the country must also end. Under the Constitution, Pakistan is a parliamentary democracy and experiments of presidential system done in the past have failed and even led to the breakup of the country. The establishment should therefore stop its stooges in the media, who are often planted as ‘defence analysts,’ from undermining Pakistan’s Constitution.

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