26th February 2021 was a good day for some of the people attending a Gig night, “Midnight City 1.0”, in Karak Khel, Gulberg, Lahore. However, some people might not be aware of the events deliberately perpetrated just after it had ended.
The team of the Gig, along with its Event Head, encountered Karak Khel’s manager who had pulled back a 14 years old girl by her shirt, onto the main ground, ‘for the sake of her safety and protection’. After a few minutes, the team intervened to stop the manager from further nuisance. The two sides apologized for the inconvenience caused, and escorted the girl to safety, only to find a mob attacking them from behind. They were viciously beaten with metal rods, chairs, and even tables. In a split second, the Karak Khel employees forcefully pushed all the girls out of the location. In desperation, all the team members started frantically running in fear of their safety. While 80-100 Karak Khel employees attacked these minors who had just put together a commendable effort for a successful night of entertainment. In a hurl of abuses, these merciless people started beating those 10-15 team members brutally. Subsequently, the owner of Karak Khel, Hassan Khan Niazi, arrived at the location and the gates were shut immediately.
TW: Physical Abuse
According to the Event Organizer, Taimour Khan, Hassan Khan Niazi ordered at the top of his voice, to threaten and beat up the 11 team members inside the closed location. Keep in mind, most of these team members were only minors, who were ferociously beaten by the restaurant’s staff and the owner himself. These students have been educated about the difference between right and wrong and they acted to stop that particular wrongdoing from happening and this was the response they got. In the moment of helplessness, they called the police repeatedly but instead they got no valid response from them due to the presence of Hassan Khan Niazi, as he is the nephew of Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, and is also a barrister practicing law in the Lahore High Court.
Hassan has previously been under the spotlight for various controversial reasons ranging from involvement in the attack on The Punjab Institute of Cardiology. Here, Hassan was one of the hundreds of lawyers who stormed the building which resulted in patients getting killed and several infrastructure damages to the building. Many protested that he was allowed interim bail, as he is the nephew of the prime minister. Moreover, he was the center of yet another controversy, when he beat up a citizen over a slight rift on the main road.
Imagine the plight of their parents who must have been worried sick about their children. The Event Head further narrates, “The owner made us pay around 800,000 rupees as compensation for the apology and damage caused to the location which they were responsible for.” In addition to all this, the owner forced the team to read an apology letter which according to Mr. Taimour was curated by the Karak Khel management. Then, in complete defiance of the law, a video of them reading the letter was shot in the Police Station.
Illegal recording inside a police station.
Additionally, the owner used his power and influence to subdue the victims into apologizing and condemned the team as the real culprits The owner has since taken to social media, portraying the victims as “rich kids” who behaved disorderly in his café.
This situation has gone far too long in favor of Hassan Khan Niazi. This blatant injustice invokes many crucial questions. Of those is why must the media stay quiet on this matter, is it because the prime minister’s nephew was involved. Why wasn’t there an immediate enquiry and why weren’t the Karak Khel employees questioned under the legal process. Moreover, why wasn’t the Karak Khel team charged when, according to witnesses, it was responsible for inciting the fight. Will the media or the police acknowledge the mental and physical suffering of the teenagers further increased by their lockup; why was a video filmed in a police station. Furthermore, why didn’t the police take action when sexual harassment was reported? Is Hassan Niazi befit to call himself a human rights activist after his actions in the hospital attack and now in this callous situation of injustice. While these students are capable of going to court for settling this injustice, the imperative question is will Hassan Niazi be able to defend himself in a people’s court and not use his power and influence.
There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the guise of the law and in the name of justice. Imran Khan became prime minister based on his promises of fighting such injustice. However, will Mr. Khan be silent on the abuse of power when his own family is involved in such acts? Khan’s promises of accountability are shallow if he can’t stand by his own promises. Due to such flagrant violation of promises, such as in this case, his popularity within Pakistan is sure to take a hit.
Amazing Article!