KARACHI: A Karachi University academic, who spent about nine hours in police custody a day earlier, linked his ordeal on Sunday to a high-profile case involving six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges who publicly complained of being pressured by the country’s premier spy agency to seek favorable verdicts in political cases.
The IHC judges raised the matter in a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council in March, demanding institutional consultation over the issue and highlighting that such meddling could undermine the independence of the Pakistani judiciary.
The judges specifically mentioned the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, managed by the country’s powerful army, accusing its officials of coercing them over “politically consequential” cases, although the army states it does not interfere in political or judicial matters. They particularly highlighted the cases against former prime minister Imran Khan who has been in jail for over a year.
Subsequently, one of these judges, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jehangiri, was accused by Karachi University of holding an invalid legal degree, leading to scrutiny that also involved Dr. Riaz Ahmed, who was detained on Saturday.
“My abduction today at 130pm from Tipu Sultan Road was for preventing me from attending KU Syndicate at 3pm at VC office where unfair means committee report against Justice Tariq Mehmood Jehangiri of Islamabad High Court so as to get a one-sided inquiry of 17/8/2024 approved by Syndicate,” Ahmed said after being released from detention.
He said he was moved from one police station to another until 9 PM and was released without charges from the Bahadurabad Police Station at 10 PM.
The Karachi University professor took to the social media in recent weeks where he said in a thread that his institution was facing “unusual external pressure,” adding it was being used in “a power struggle in Islamabad.”
Ahmed said he was not a supporter of any political party, though he was convinced that Justice Jehangiri should not be condemned unheard.
“As a teacher I know it is the right of every student to be given a right to respond if they are accused of any wrongdoing,” he continued, adding it was his duty as an elected member of the Karachi University Syndicate to demand fairness in an inquiry conducted by an appointed committee.
Asked about his hours-long detention, the police said they had received information about an absconder Riaz Ahmed before the academic was taken into custody. However, after checking the records, it became clear that he was a university professor and had been previously acquitted in a court case.
“He was released according to the law,” the police statement said. “There is no hidden aspect to this case.”
However, the Karachi University Teacher Society (KUTS) condemned the incident, saying Ahmed was “forcibly taken” to a local police station to “prevent his participation in the Syndicate meeting.”
“Depriving teachers of their rights poses a significant threat to the security of our nation,” Dr. Asad Tanoli, the association’s secretary general, said. “A society that disrespects its educators cannot be prevented from destruction.”
