HRCP expresses concerns over attacks on Jibran Nasir

Says independent candidate for NA-247, PS-111 and supporters have been consistently targeted by ‘right-wing elements’

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed concerns at the escalating threat to the human rights activist and independent candidate for the upcoming general elections, Jibran Nasir in Karachi.

Nasir and his supporters have been targeted consistently by ‘right-wing elements’, especially over the last week, the rights watchdog said in a statement issued on Sunday.

Condemning ‘the violence and  malice that has dogged Nasir’s election campaign’, the HRCP also expressed concerns that the NA-247 and PS-111 candidate and his supporters are reportedly labelled as ‘Qadiani agents’ by local clerics and supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), who publicly incited charged mobs to engage in violence to prevent him from canvassing.



An angry mob had reportedly attacked Nasir’s team and tore down his posters for the July 25 polls on Friday night in the city's Bizerta Lines area. Nasir and his supporters, however, escaped the attack unhurt.

“No member of the public or of any state institution has any right whatsoever to question or indeed, to demand he proves his faith,” the statement read. “The frightening implications this could have for Nasir’s personal safety and that of his political workers should be lost on no one, least of all the Election Commission of Pakistan and the caretaker government,” it added.

The ‘constant vitriol of TLP supporters such as cleric Naveed Abbasi’ violates the ECP’s code of conduct for political parties, it further said.



Given that the TLP has been accorded the status of a legitimate party, the HRCP demanded that the ECP disqualify any TLP and other candidates linked to inciting such violence and provide adequate security to Jibran Nasir.

The rights watchdog also demanded that the caretaker government in Sindh must ensure timely registration of cases against those who have threatened or attacked Nasir and his supporters.