Mukhtaran Mai is an open advocate of women’s rights in Pakistan. In 2002, she was the victim of a gang rape sanctioned by a tribal council as a form of ‘honour revenge’.

The HRCP urged the Punjab government to provide protection to the human rights activist and assure that her attackers are held accountable.

We strongly condemn the attack on human rights defender #MukhtaranMai in Alipur and are concerned by her allegation that the perpetrators may be connected to the jirga responsible for ordering her gang-rape in 2002. #stopviolenceagainstwomen pic.twitter.com/YCqs9sEq2Q

— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) May 4, 2023

Earlier, the human rights activist regretted a delay in the registration of the First Information Report (FIR) of the incident.

She also tweeted a picture of an application that she had written to DPO Muzaffargarh, requesting him to register the FIR.

According to the application, she was attacked when she was visiting her village in Alipur, South Punjab, along with her husband on May 1.

Request to DPO Muzaffargarh 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/tujhLWG9BL

— Mukhtar Mai (@MukhtarMai) May 2, 2023

After Mukhtaran Mai was subjected to gangrape in 2002, she spoke up about the incident and pursued it in a court, as opposed to local customs. On September 1, 2002, an anti-terrorism court had sentenced 6 men, including the 4 rapists, to death for rape. However, in 2005, the Lahore High Court had cited “insufficient evidence” and subsequently acquitted 5 of the 6 convicted rapists, while commuting the punishment of the sixth man to a life sentence. She filed an appeal in the Supreme Court and it acquitted the accused as well in 2011.

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The clash reportedly occurred between Baloch and Pashtun student councils, leaving a number of students injured. The clash also caused extensive damage to the university.

Earlier in the day, the QAU requested the Interior Ministry to deploy Rangers within the university’s premises “for identification and expulsion of outsiders/miscreants from campus and hostels”.

In a letter to the Interior Ministry, the university authorities said the Monday violent fight is a continuation of a fight that took place a few days ago. The university said the conflict between ethnic student councils disrupts the academic environment and creates a law and order situation on campus.

The university also added that they have previously raised this matter a number of times with the concerned parties but it was of no avail.

On Monday night, the university shut down indefinitely, directing all students, including boys and girls to vacate the hostel premises immediately as well.

The cause of the conflict is not known.

Several videos of the violent clash are circulating online wherein a large number of students can be seen attacking each other with sticks.

This is not the first time violent clashes have erupted between student groups at QAU.

In 2017 as well, two ethnic student groups clashed, resulting in the deployment of Rangers within the university premises to curtail the violent situation.

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Moavia Azam Tariq could be seen addressing an ulema convention in a video that he uploaded on his Twitter handle.

He claimed: “1732 FIRs have been registered under blasphemy charges but these ‘blasphemers’ are roaming free in the country due to weak laws”.

1732 گستاخی کی ایف آئی آر ۔۔۔
علماء کنونشن اسلام آباد @ArifAlvi @SenatePakistan @ImranKhanPTI @CMShehbaz @OfficialDGISPR @HamidMirPAK @AajKamranKhan @SaleemKhanSafi @UmarCheema1 @AnsarAAbbasi @TalatHussain12 @mubasherlucman @OryaMaqboolJan @OfficialDPRPP pic.twitter.com/l9qRKEQbEr

— Muhammad Moavia Azam (Official) (@moavia_official) February 16, 2023

“It is said that religious people are sentimental, however, 1732 ‘blasphemers’ still roam free in this country and there is no restriction on their movement despite FIRs,” he claimed.

“Despite this, the ulemas gathered here are only demanding a strict blasphemy law”, he said, while questioning “if this is not tolerance then what is?”

The statement comes days after a mob in Nankana Sahib attacked a police station and lynched a man accused of blasphemy, later setting his body on fire.

National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA)’s website states that there are restrictions on travel, speech, and business, of proscribed persons, who are included in the 4th Schedule.

It also states that there are passport and arms license embargos on such individuals. The list of proscribed persons is also shared with the State Bank of Pakistan for monitoring and freezing of their accounts. They are also kept under strict surveillance by intelligence agencies as well as concerned police departments. There is also a ban on loans and credit cards for them.

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