New Delhi: Pakistanis in exile have been cautioned by the UK’s Counter Terrorism Police that their lives are in danger for criticising the Pakistani military, according to a report published in The Guardian. The revelation has brought criticism for the Imran Khan government in Pakistan.
Twitter user Zohra Yusuf said journalists are not safe even in countries where they have sought asylum.
Even after the conviction in the Goraya case, journalists are apparently not safe in the countries where they have sought refuge. UK police alert Pakistani dissidents to threats: report https://t.co/D7MB68u0HU
— Zohra Yusuf (@meranaam) February 7, 2022
Another user on the microblogging site said the Imran Khan government must come clean on the Guardian report.
This is serious……Government must come clean on this.
UK police alert Pakistani dissidents to threats: report https://t.co/XhkHN72hcc
— Hammad Yunus (@hammadyunus_1) February 7, 2022
An account by the name Syed Tauqeer Bukhari wrote the time had come to talk about the issue.
It’s time that this was spoken about. I reported this to the @metpoliceuk after becoming a victim. The Pakistani government & its elite response behind threats & attacks. https://t.co/2W8mYUIh7V
— Syed Tauqeer Bukhari (@TauqeerBukahri1) February 6, 2022
It was ridiculous to threaten such people, in real life or on social media, wrote a user named Quatrina.
Pakistan’s honour is best served by following rules of justice and the law. If you have issues with these dissidents, or others, sue them in a court of law! Hurling threats in real life, or on social media, is ridiculous. https://t.co/ZwR5JD3uop
— Quatrina (@QuatrinaHosain) February 7, 2022
In an apparent jab at the Pakistani establishment, a user addressed the London Police, asking them to “take a good care of your guests”.
Dear London police @MetCC
Lives of many of our patriotic Pakistanis living in UK including our ex premier, our ex FM, journalists and many others are under threat.
Please take a good care of your guests.
We believe that you are fully capable to do so.— Waseem Raja One Man Army (@WaseemRaja1512) February 6, 2022
In a show of solidarity for Pakistani commentator Ayesha Siddiqua, Professor of Politics at the University of Nottingham, Katharine Adeney wrote that for the likes of Ayesha, the “sense of being secure is gone”. According to the Guardian report, a lawyer had told Siddiqua that British-based Pakistani drug gangs could be involved in targeting her.
And this is also appalling! Solidarity with @iamthedrifter “Ayesha Siddiqa, an outspoken Pakistani political scientist and commentator based in London, has also been warned of threats to her life…“That sense of being secure is gone,” she said” https://t.co/nyqSsDjV2l
— Prof. Katharine Adeney (@KatAdeney) February 6, 2022
The alert for the Pakistanis in exile comes after a London-based hitman was recently found guilty of conspiracy to murder a Pakistani dissident. According to reports, Muhammad Gohir Khan was arrested for allegedly receiving money offers for the murder of blogger Ahmed Waqas Goraya, who had criticised the ISI.
Days before the trial began last month, officials from Counter Terrorism Policing visited the UK home of Pakistani political commentator Rashid Murad, in a bid to review security.
Murad told the Guardian that two police officers had visited his house and told him that some people were planning to harm him. They indicated the threat was from Pakistani authorities.
In the Guardian report, lawyer Fazal Khan has also been described on the target of Pakistani authorities. Fazal said he was also informed by the UK authorities and told that he would have to inform the police if he wanted to travel outside London. He also said that the authorities had also discussed the death of Karima Baloch, who campaigned for an independent Balochistan and was found dead in a Canadian lake in 2020.