Satirist 'picked up' as tolerance dwindles

Khosa's whereabouts remain unknown after release of his humorous video song 'Bill Bill Pakistan'

LAHORE:

It seems that even laughter may soon need official approval, as tolerance in the country appears to be wearing thin amid ongoing reports of alleged enforced disappearances.

The latest to vanish is YouTuber Aun Ali Khosa, who was reportedly "picked up" from his Lahore residence on August 15.

Khosa, known for his biting satire and criticism of the current government, had recently released a parody video titled "Bill Bill Pakistan," which gained nearly 100,000 views before being mysteriously taken down.

The government, struggling to secure an IMF loan and manage the ballooning circular debt, has raised power tariffs, leaving citizens grappling with sky-high bills amid soaring inflation.

This isn't the first time a vocal critic has gone missing. Earlier in May, Kashmiri poet Ahmed Farhad, known for his criticism of the establishment on social media, went missing from his residence in Islamabad.

He surprisingly "resurfaced" in Gujjar Kohala, a village near the AJK border with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, on May 29 when the Islamabad High Court heard a petition seeking his recovery.

The court was informed by the attorney general for Pakistan that Farhad had been arrested under Section 186 of the Azad Penal Code (APC) - the AJK version of the Pakistan Penal Code - and was kept at the Dhirkot police station of Bagh district.

Before his disappearance, Farhad criticised the establishment on online platforms amid the unprecedented protests in AJK in April over rising flour prices and increased power tariffs.

Now, YouTuber Khosa has reportedly been "abducted" by a group of armed men in Lahore.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered the Lahore police to recover the digital content creator by August 20 after his wife Binish Iqbal filed a petition with the court, claiming that her husband was "in the unlawful and illegal custody of the law enforcement authorities".

Binish maintained that the whereabouts of Aun were unknown and she feared for his "safety having strong apprehension that his husband has been a victim of enforced disappearance".

Justice Shahbaz Ali Rizvi heard the petition and ordered the Lahore CCPO to produce the "abducted" artist in the court on August 20.

Meanwhile, Lahore DIG Operations said that the police had not received any complaint about the alleged abduction of Aun, adding that the police would investigate the matter after receiving any complaint.

The petition stated that Aun was a "digital content creator, a writer, and a dignified comedian/artist having a massive following of 137,000 subscribers on YouTube".

It claimed that at 2am on August 15, a dozen police officials and "men with masked faces in plain clothes" barged into his apartment after breaking apart the entrance door.

The armed men confiscated Aun's phone, laptop, computer system, and digital camera, the petition further stated.

"The petitioner followed them as they left in a Fortuner and a Black Revo double cabin vehicle. After manhandling him and shoving him into the Black Vigo parked outside the flat, they fled," the petition alleged.

It added that the petitioner repeatedly asked the men the reason for picking him up but they refused to provide any information and left.

Amnesty International (AI) called on the government to "promptly" disclose Aun's whereabouts and ensure his immediate and safe return.

"His abduction is part of an established pattern of harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders, political activists, students, and journalists by Pakistani authorities in an attempt to silence them," the AI said in a statement.

"Authorities must conduct an effective, independent and impartial investigation into his disappearance, and those suspected of criminal responsibility must be brought to justice in fair trials before an ordinary civilian court," it added.