Currently, my Aunties are still abducted. Family and lawyers have received no update on how they are, nor why they are incarcerated. Concerning my father, there is complete silence. My brother and I have had no contact with him for more than six months. We do not even know the true state of his health. Meanwhile, thousands of Pakistanis are peacefully taking to the streets to protest against his illegal and politically motivated imprisonment. However, the people of Pakistan have not given up. No barricade, intimidation or repression can muzzle the people’s demand for justice and their democratic right to be heard. There can be no lasting peace or stability while their democratic will is suppressed and their chosen leader remains behind bars.

There is little choice left for the people of Pakistan. Either remain silent while their chosen leader is imprisoned. Whilst his family is detained, his party is suppressed and justice is denied - or come out peacefully and exercise their fundamental right to protest. You can arrest families and threaten people with violence. But you cannot imprison 250 million Pakistanis or crush the will of a generation. No regime is more powerful than its people. The world must watch as the people of Pakistan come together to demonstrate their plea for justice, even in the face of threats of violence. Inshallah, Pakistan’s future will be decided by its people, not by criminals who rule through fear.

Today, my aunt, Aleema Khan, has been abducted by police in Lahore. Our family has been told nothing about where she has been taken. Her family and lawyers cannot reach her. This is the behaviour of a fascist government - abducting people, terrorising families and trampling human rights, due process and the rule of law while pretending to stand for democracy. First they imprisoned my father. Now they are coming after his family. We demand immediate access to her for her family and lawyers, full disclosure of where she is being held, and her immediate release. The world cannot keep looking away from what is happening in Pakistan.