Aisha Rishi

Wake up and smell the coffee

[ANI @ANI]

#WATCH | Delhi: On the international cricket captains' letter to the Pakistan government regarding Imran Khan's health and well-being, former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev says, "...I like to support our friend whom we played with and admired for his cricketing skill. We don't know the law of the country; that's fine. But humanity and simply giving facilities to a prisoner, whoever it may be, and he was the former Prime Minister of the country and a top cricketer of the world, we want him to get the best treatment as we are asking for. We are not asking for anything else... When you request, you are not asking for a reply..."

[Jemima Goldsmith @Jemima_Khan]

Prime Minister @andyburnham and Foreign Secretary @Ed_Miliband : how much longer will Britain remain silent?

For three years the father of my two sons, and Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been brutally penalised by his political opponents, in a personal vendetta by Army Chief, Asim Munir,  which according to the UN,  amounts to torture and which  is now taking a potentially fatal toll on his physical and mental health. 

He has endured 3 years of solitary confinement. For nearly ten months now his family has been denied contact with him. He has been deprived of the most basic human contact, denied access to books, lawyers and doctors.

The international human-rights standards are unequivocal. Under the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules, solitary confinement lasting more than 15 consecutive days is prohibited and amounts to torture.

He has endured this treatment not for 15 days, but for three years.

Pakistan’s own Supreme Court has now intervened: ordering comprehensive  medical treatment, access to his personal doctor, regular family visits and twice-weekly calls with his sons.

Yet those orders are being defied.

This is no longer simply a Pakistani political matter. It is a human-rights emergency.

He has deep and lifelong ties to Britain. He studied at Oxford University, captained Oxford University cricket and spent years playing county cricket in England. His relationship with this country stretches back more than half a century. His charitable activities were internationally recognised, and  include building the only free cancer hospital in Pakistan as well as a university.

His sons, my two boys, Sulaiman and Kasim, are British citizens. They have been forced to watch their father’s health decline from thousands of miles away, prevented from visiting him, denied visas, publicly threatened by government officials with arrest themselves, and even denied court-mandated regular phone calls. 

I have repeatedly appealed to the UK government to intervene. Purported attempts at back channelling have evidently failed. The previous Foreign Secretary @DavidLammy informed me in writing that Britain would not  intervene if my sons, British citizens, are arrested when they travel to Pakistan to visit their father. 

@FCDOGovUK: Britain must now speak out publicly and unequivocally. Demand that Pakistan comply with its own Supreme Court;  restore Imran Khan’s medical access, his right to see his family, end his prolonged isolation and uphold his fundamental human rights.

Pakistan is a Commonwealth country. Britain has a long and proud tradition of standing against arbitrary detention, inhumane treatment and the denial of fundamental rights. Those principles mean very little if we invoke them only selectively and neglect them when inconvenient.
This an appeal to the new Burnham government  to please now do the right thing.

[fatima bhutto 🇵🇸🇱🇧🇮🇷 @fbhutto]

Imran Khan served his country, he was the Prime Minister of the country and he cannot be hidden in darkness. This is not a question of politics or what party one belongs to, it is a question of basic human decency. No prisoner should be treated so inhumanely.

[Kasim Khan @Kasim_Khan_1999]

My father has been under arrest for 845 days. For the past six weeks, he has been kept in solitary confinement in a death cell with zero transparency. His sisters have been denied every visit, even with clear court orders allowing access. There have been no phone calls, no meetings and no proof of life. Me and my brother have had no contact with our father.

This absolute blackout is not a security protocol. It is a deliberate attempt to hide his condition and prevent our family from knowing whether he is safe.

Let it be clear: the Pakistani government and its handlers will be held fully accountable legally, morally and internationally for my father’s safety and for every consequence of this inhumane isolation.

I call on the international community, global human rights organisations and every democratic voice to intervene urgently. Demand proof of life, enforce court ordered access, end this inhumane isolation and call for the release of Pakistan’s most popular political leader who is being held solely for political reasons.

[Moazzam Begg @Moazzam_Begg]

For those who don’t know, Muhammad Jawad was amongst the youngest prisoners held without charge at #Guantanamo. His letter to Aafia is so moving and inspirational, I hope we can share it someday.

[Aisha Rishi @AishaR_78]

It took me a while but I have finally lost all hope for Pakistan. I am grateful that I no longer have to ever come back.

[Aisha Rishi @AishaR_78]

What a downfall.

[Asad Umar @Asad_Umar]

After 2 years of crushing economic difficulties we are finally seeing signs of emerging economic recovery. The most exciting prospect is the IT sector which is exhibiting strong export growth. This growth is being threatened by the disastrous implementation of internet controls. If we do not resolve this problem urgently we may derail the emerging tech sector for years. There are many countries including some of our closest allies like china and saudi arabia with strong digital controls. But they have done this with well thought out strategies and have thriving technology industries while implementing the controls considered necessary. An immediate revisit of our digital control strategy is needed

[Moazzam Begg @Moazzam_Begg]

I’m assuming you have no idea that 100s of 1000s of white British people lived in and colonised India for 200+ years which led directly to the creation of Pakistan. Modern history not your thing?

[Aisha Rishi @AishaR_78]

Good job #Bangladesh

[Eric @amerix]

BANGLADESH 🇧🇩

Power belongs to the people.

This is massive and resounding.

[Aisha Rishi @AishaR_78]

Despicable!!

[Moazzam Begg @Moazzam_Begg]

This is Qari Ubaidullah. Imprisoned in #Guantanamo 14 years and 4 years in UAE without charge or trial. We were cell mates in #Bagram. He was only 17 years old. He returned home in 2020.

Today, he’s #Afghanistan’s Minister of Libraries and Literature.

He gifted me a copy of a compilation of the first Afghan newspapers published at the start of the twentieth century.

حفظه الله و رعاه

[Omar Baddar عمر بدّار @OmarBaddar]

It's strange to be Israel: You violate a mountain of UN resolutions, condemn the UN at every turn, bomb UN schools & shelters, murder UN employees, & then you demand a UN meeting over another country responding to your bombing of their consulate 🤯

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

Yes, the arms that the West sold to Israel were used by Israel to launch an attack on an Iranian consulate in Syria which prompted a retaliatory attack from Iran on Israel which has brought the entire region to the precipice of all-out war.

So, yeah, stop selling arms to Israel.

[Aisha Rishi @AishaR_78]

@Mini163 @rvcjmovies @nurainfarizan @mmrksk hahaha true

[Free Imran Khan 🇵🇰 @hinasafi]

main hoon ek angel aur devil mera yaar

[Shalin Gala @ShalinGala]

Modern society fail. #BanBullfighting

[Edward Snowden @Snowden]

Biden reportedly did not take a cognitive assessment as part of his annual physical. No matter your politics, that is not a good sign.

[Aisha Rishi @AishaR_78]

puke 🤮

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif, becomes Pakistan’s first female provincial chief minister https://t.co/HZxfJreoLe

[Aisha Rishi @AishaR_78]

Pakistan and it's jokers

[Munizae Jahangir @MunizaeJahangir]

“Kissi Khatoon ko harrass karna .@MaryamNSharif ki red line hain”says CM Punjab & praises the woman police officer who saved a woman from being lynched by a mob in Lahore.She promises to protect minorities of Punjab through a mehfooz Punjab program.

[PTI @PTIofficial]

عوامی پیسہ چوری کرنے کے ساتھ ساتھ پیش خدمت ہیں عوامی مینڈیٹ چوری کرنے والی محترمہ #MadamThiefMinister