LAHORE (Dunya News) – Fashion designer Khadija Shah, currently incarcerated in Central Jail, Kot Lakhpat, has penned an open letter to shed light on the distressing circumstances faced by 18 imprisoned women, appealing for compassion and basic human decency.
In a heartfelt, five-page handwritten message made public through her spouse and the official account of her party on platform X, Shah shares the heart-wrenching narratives of separation, pain, and agony endured by the detainees since the May 9 events. She emphasises that every prisoner, herself included, has endured an indescribable ordeal.
Shah, the granddaughter of the former military leader retired General Asif Nawaz Janjua, reveals that she has been detained for more than four months due to her "peaceful participation" in the May 9 protest.
Expressing the plight of the 18 "innocent" women imprisoned alongside her as a result of the May 9 incidents, Shah underscores their inability to voice their suffering and the hardships faced by their families.
Shah narrates the tragic tales of six imprisoned mothers among the 18, such as Afshaan Tariq, who has been incarcerated for two months and continues to shed tears.
Farzana Khan, a mother of five and a café owner, has endured more than two and a half months of confinement.
Rohina Khan, a mother of four without any family in Pakistan to care for her children.
Shahbano Gohchani, a mother of three, was apprehended shortly before her youngest daughter's fifth birthday.
Aaliya Hamza, a mother of three daughters, was forcibly taken from their home on May 9, witnessed by her children. She laments the anguish her absence has caused her own five-year-old daughter.
Shah appeals to everyone, regardless of their political affiliations, stating, "Humanity dictates that this trial should be brought to a swift conclusion."