The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday heard a petition related to the recovery of missing artist Aun Ali Khosa, who was “taken into custody by some unknown armed men” the night between Wednesday and Thursday, according to his brother.
A petition was filed in the LHC by the artist’s wife Binish Iqbal, a copy of which is seen by Dawn.com, which claimed that Aun was “in the unlawful and illegal custody of the law enforcement authorities”.
It stated that the whereabouts of the Petitioner’s husband 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 today and ordered the capital city police officer (CCPO) Lahore to produce the “abducted” artist in the court on August 20.
Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Lahore, Faisal Kamran, said that the police had not received any complaint about the alleged abduction of Khosa, adding that the police would investigate the matter after receiving any complaint.
The petition
According to the petition, Aun was a “digital content creator, a writer, and a dignified comedian/artist having a massive following of 137,000 subscribers on YouTube”.
It further added that a dozen police officials and “men with masked faces in plain clothes” barged into his apartment after breaking apart the entrance door.
The heavily armed men confiscated Aun’s phone, laptop, computer system, and digital camera, the petition further detailed.
“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.
Appeal to spread the word
Taking to the X platform on August 15, the artist’s brother, Ali Sher Khosa, said that the incident occurred while Aun was in his Lahore apartment. He asked people to pray for his recovery while also requesting everyone to spread the word.
Rights activist, group condemn incident
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said that it was alarmed by reports that the digital content creator was “abducted” allegedly by unknown armed men from his home in Lahore.
HRCP said it was concerned that the incident may be related to his work as a satirist and called for his immediate recovery.
Activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir, in a satirical post on X, said that the “abduction” of the video blogger was “proof” that people’s laughter could also bring “instability” to the country.
“For stability, it is important that the people remain quiet, do not question and silently tolerate fascism,” Nasir said.
“No need to use your brain. The state will tell when to be happy, when to laugh, when to cry,” he added.
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