In a surprising and unusual development, the Pakistan government has referred to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as “foreign land.” This declaration was made to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday regarding the case of local Kashmiri poet and journalist Ahmed Farhad Shah, who is currently in police custody in PoK and cannot be presented in court due to his location in “foreign land.”
This statement emerged during a hearing on Shah’s abduction case, as reported by news agency IANS. The disappearance of Farhad, who has been missing for two weeks, has reportedly introduced a new angle to the Kashmir issue, according to Pakistan-based journalists and experts.
During Friday’s court session, the Additional Attorney General appeared before IHC Judge Mohsin Akhter Kiani, revealing that Farhad faces two legal cases in Muzaffarabad and Dhirkot, PoK. Farhad’s lawyer, Imaan Mazaari, noted that the Additional Attorney General admitted Farhad was on “foreign land,” hence his non-appearance in court.
Farhad was abducted from his home in Rawalpindi, prompting his wife to file a case in the Islamabad High Court. Judge Kiani criticized Pakistan’s intelligence agencies for continuing forced abductions. Senior political analyst Hamid Mir expressed concern over the misuse of the law to assert institutional supremacy. He highlighted inconsistencies in the Attorney General’s statements, noting that although the court was informed that Farhad was in Dhirkot lock-up, his wife and child found him absent upon visiting Dhirkot.
Mir further emphasized that the Farhad case has added a new dimension to the Kashmir issue and questioned the presence of Pakistan Rangers in PoK during recent anti-inflation protests following the government’s admission.
