Date: Nov 9, 2003.

To,

Friends believing in principles of democracy and human rights!

Dear Friends,

You must be aware of the arrest of Acting President and Parliamentary leader of PML-N and ARD’s President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, who was picked up in a Gestapo-like operation around midnight on Wednesday October 29, 2003.

Being his daughter, I have been knocking in vain at government doors to know my father’s whereabouts. The only indication of his whereabouts, was given by the Interior Minister Faisal Saleh who told daily Nawa-i-Waqt the next day that “security agencies” had taken him, which means that he is in the custody of military agencies. I suspect that he is being physically tortured, because even after ten days of his arrest (when I’m writing this letter) none of his relatives or lawyers has been allowed their legal and constitutional right to visit him.

I want to draw your attention to the following facts in this respect:

• Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, in addition to being the Acting President and Parliamentary leader of PML-N, is the President of a 16-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy(ARD), and leads 78 opposition members in the National Assembly.
• According to the constitution, he could not be arrested without approval of the National Assembly Speaker.

• No warrant was shown at the time of his arrest.
• He was picked up from Parliament Lodges that are part of the Parliament, and as such his arrest was contempt of the Parliament.
• He was not produced before a magistrate, as required by law, and a police officer

mysteriously announced that a court had remanded my father to police custody for five days. He refused to identify the court.

• Later, on Nov 4, government lawyers, declining to produce him in person, told the High Court that he had been further remanded to police custody for nine days. He refused to produce remand order, or name of the magistrate who was supposed to have signed it.
• The Police are reluctant to provide a copy of the report detailing charges against him.
• The FIR was not even produced before the High Court. According to the Interior Minister’s claim, my father has been booked under five different laws related to sedition, abetting mutiny, defamation, fraud and rumour mongering. If convicted, he can be sentenced to an approximate total of 65 years jail.

• Speaker National Assembly is required by law to order production of a detained member in the house for participation in proceedings, but he has refused to do so despite a request by opposition parliamentarians, which is breach of privilege of

Javed Hashmi.

• It is being wrongly propagated by official spokesmen, including the Interior Minister and Prime Minister Jamali that Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has written a

letter to incite the armed forces to mutiny.

• Fact is that Javed Hashmi did not write any letter. He only stated at a news Conference, that several parliamentarians received an anonymous letter addressed

to the “National Leadership” on behalf of military officers, urging the Parliamentarians to work for restoration of democracy, and demand formation of a judicial commission to probe into objective and consequences of the Kargil

operation of May 1999, as well as events of October 12, 1999. He showed the letter to the reporters.

• The government authorities, rather the military agencies, have made a fake case against my father to punish him for his undaunted campaign for the end of military rule and restoration of the constitution and supremacy of Parliament.
• The demands made in the letter are the same that opposition have been publicly making for the past four years for the end of military rule and restoration of democracy under the consensus 1973 Constitution of the country.

The facts mentioned above clearly show that Javed Hashmi’s basic rights as a human being and constitutional rights as a citizen of Pakistan have been abused and his privileges as a Member and opposition leader of the Parliament have been breached.

I, therefore seek your help and support, in individual or organizational capacity:

• to raise a voice against the illegal detention of Makhdoom Javed Hashmi;
• in urging the Government to respect the basic human and constitutional rights of Javed Hashmi and to release him immediately, and;
• in the meanwhile, produce him before a court of law and allow his relatives and lawyers to visit him.

I must point out here that my father, aside from recently having undergone a major surgery, is a patient of asthma and needs constant medical care. I am afraid that his jailors, whoever they are, are not providing him necessary medicines and services of a physician. If anything happens which endangers his life, the responsibility would lie on the civilian and military leaders of the present government.

I request you to please take up this matter urgently at all possible levels in whatever capacity you can, and save not only the life of my father, but also the future of democracy in this country. I hope the civil society comprising of vocal advocates of human rights and democracy, would not let me down.

With hopes of solidarity,

Maimoona Hashmi

Member National Assembly of Pakistan

F-106 Parliament Lodges, Islamabad.

Phone# 051-9222804.