Zeeshan Kiani, the overseas-based husband of Samira Jahangir—a woman arrested during a peaceful protest in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir—has spoken out regarding the incident where she was forcibly presented before the media to record statements. He has dismissed the video aired by Pakistani media as propaganda obtained through coercion.
It is pertinent to note that a video featuring Samira was broadcast on mainstream Pakistani media (including ARY News), in which she was made to say that she had been “forced to join the protest so she could build a case or profile to obtain foreign citizenship.”
Reacting strongly to the video, Samira’s husband, Zeeshan Kiani, clarified that the statements she was made to give were extracted entirely through coercion and under severe mental duress.
He stated, “The women and children—including my wife—arrested by the police during the peaceful protest in Muzaffarabad yesterday were forced to record this video under threats of severe mental torture and dire consequences. My wife is currently under immense mental stress; she will soon issue a detailed statement outlining the facts after consulting her lawyer.” Dismissing the allegations leveled against him, he stated, “False propaganda is being spread claiming that I am leading this protest to secure Italian citizenship. The reality is that I have no connection to Italy; I hold legal residency status in Portugal and reside there—a fact for which I possess legal proof. All of this is a futile attempt to discredit the public movement and divert attention from the core issue.”
According to analysts and human rights observers, Pakistan’s military establishment and administration are now replicating the same tactics used in Balochistan within Kashmir. In Balochistan, there has been a long-standing pattern of arresting the relatives of individuals associated with protest movements, subjecting them to mental and physical torture, and using blackmail to extract coerced statements.
This same modus operandi is now being employed in Azad Kashmir, where women are being arrested and forcibly brought before the cameras; meanwhile, the Pakistani media—instead of highlighting the ground realities—is acting as a tool to broadcast the establishment’s baseless propaganda and coerced statements.
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