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Baba Jan (politician)

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Baba Jan
Baba Jan
Vice-president of the Awami Workers Party
Personal details
Political partyAwami Workers Party

Baba Jan is a prisoner of conscience and Leftist political activist in the Gilgit-Baltistan administrative territory of Pakistan. He is the vice-president of the socialist Awami Workers Party.[1] His hometown is Nasirabad in the Hunza Valley.

Incarceration

Baba Jan is currently serving a lifetime prison sentence after being convicted by an anti-terrorism court of participating in political riots related to the 2010 Attabad landslide.[2] The massive landslide on January 4, 2010 led to the formation of a huge landslide dam which submerged several villages and left over 1,000 people homeless. Baba Jan organized the displaced people to lobby the government for compensation and rehabilitation.[3] While several families were compensated, some 25 families had still not been compensated by August 2011. On 11 August 2011, some of those families protested by blocking a highway on which the then Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Syed Mehdi Shah was due to travel. Police fired teargas and and gunshots to disperse the protesters for the Chief Minister's convoy, killing a father and son. When news of the killings spread through the Hunza Valley, angry protests erupted in many towns in which a number of government buildings and police stations were torched.[4]

Baba Jan was subsequently arrested and tortured, and charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act.[5] In September 2011, an anti-terrorism court sentenced him and eleven other activists to life imprisonment.[6] Human rights organizations have demanded Baba Jan's release,[7] and an international petition for his release has been signed by Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, David Graeber, and several others.[8][9] During his time in prison, it has been reported that Baba Jan has been involved in organizing prisoners and promoting sectarian tolerance between Sunnis and Shias.[10]

Elections

Despite his incarceration, he contested for a seat in the 2015 Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly elections as the Awami Workers Party's candidate for Constituency GBLA-6. He came in second place, losing out to Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan of Hunza's ruling family, who was backed by the the party of Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan Muslim League (N). However Baba Jan garnered more votes than the other mainstream parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

In November 2015, Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan was appointed by the Pakistani prime minister as the Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan,[11] which made the GBLA-6 seat vacant. The by-election for the seat has been scheduled for 28 May 2016 and the Awami Workers Party announced that Baba Jan would again be its candidate for the constituency. On 30 April 2016, the returning officer rejected his nominations papers on the grounds that he was a convicted person serving a jail sentence.[12] However, on 4 May 2016, a court accepted an appeal filed by Baba Jan's lawyers against the rejection of his nomination papers.[13]

References

  1. ^ Mir, Shabbir (9 April 2015). "Case closed: G-B Chief Court acquits Baba Jan, 11 other protesters". Express Tribune. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  2. ^ Farooq, Umar (10 June 2015). "Why Baba Jan Won". Tanqeed. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. ^ Naviwala, Zehra (29 July 2012). "Who is Baba Jan?". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  4. ^ Mir, Shabbir (5 June 2015). "No moving back: Baba Jan eyes G-B assembly seat from behind bars - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  5. ^ Hasnain, Khalid (23 July 2012). "Gilgit rights activist being given the 'third degree'". www.dawn.com. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  6. ^ Mir, Shabbir (26 September 2014). "Hunza riots of 2011: ATC awards life sentence to activist Baba Jan, 11 others - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  7. ^ "PAKISTAN: Release with immediate effect, Baba Jan and other eleven human rights defenders, sentenced for life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court". Asian Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Open Letter Demanding the Release of Baba Jan Hunzai". nakedpunch.com. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Open Letter Demanding the Release of Baba Jan and other political prisoners of Gilgit Baltistan". nakedpunch.com. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Baba Jan: Imprisoned, an activist speaks - The Express Tribune". Express Tribune. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  11. ^ "PM decides to appoint Mir Ghazanfar as GB governor". Dawn (newspaper). Associated Press of Pakistan. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  12. ^ "AWP leader's papers for Hunza by-poll rejected". Dawn (newspaper). 1 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  13. ^ "AWP leader Baba Jan allowed to contest Hunza by-elections from behind the bars". Pamir Times. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
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