Pakistani left leader arrested again

Farooq Tariq, the general secretary of Labour Party Pakistan — along with 10 other LPP members — was arrested for the third time in three months on September 27.

Tariq had gone underground for the previous three days as the police were looking for him to make another arrest. On September 27 he surfaced to participate in a lawyers' protest rally outside the Lahore High Court against General Pervez Musharraf's filing of nomination papers for a second presidential term.

When Tariq tried to get into his car after the rally, a contingent of Punjab police encircled and arrested him without showing any arrest warrants. The other 10 party members arrested, mostly brick kiln workers, were peacefully dispersing after the rally when they were taken by police to Old Anarkali Police Station and detained.

Police refused to reveal details of the arrests or to allow anyone to visit the detainees until four hours later when they registered a case against the activists under anti-terrorism laws.

LPP members held a peaceful protest that afternoon to demand the immediate release of those arrested, and all other political prisoners.

On September 29, the LPP members were granted bail.

From GLW issue 726