Rights lawyer Jalila Haider detained briefly at Lahore airport, stopped from traveling abroad

Human rights activist and lawyer Jalila Haider was on Monday barred from boarding a flight to the United Kingdom by officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at Lahore airport, sources told Geo News. 

According to sources, the rights lawyer was detained at the airport on Monday morning as she arrived to catch her flight. Haider had been scheduled to board a plane to London where she was due to attend a conference related to her work. 

Sources from the FIA said that Haider was barred from departing Pakistan as her name was on a watch-list of individuals who are under official scrutiny for alleged involvement in 'anti-state' activities. 

Also read: Women who became symbols of resistance in 2019

Sources confirmed that Haider was released from custody after a six-hour long detention at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore. Haider was let go after she recorded a statement, sources said. 

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned the detention of Haider and termed it an "ill conceived action" that continued the tradition of targeting human rights defenders and journalists.

"We condemn this ill-conceived action because it simply continues the pattern of arbitrarily targeting the freedom of movement of human rights defenders and journalists without cause," the group wrote on Twitter. 

The commission also welcomed the decision of the authorities to allow Haider to book another flight to the UK after returning her passport and other documents to her as she was released. 

Haider is a rights lawyer providing free legal services to women in poverty. In October last year, Haider was named among the 100 most influential women of 2019 by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 

Besides being a vocal activist for the rights of women, she is also the founder of We the Humans, a non-profit organisation working with local communities to provide opportunities for vulnerable women. 

Also read: Hazara woman from Pakistan named in BBC's 100 Women of 2019

Taking to social networking platform Twitter after the BBC announcement last year, Haider had expressed profound joy at being being named in the list, saying she was honored by the mention. 

"Wow, This is an honor for me that I am among the @BBC100women list 2019 from Paksitan. I want to congratulate Parveen Ahanger @_APDP also to be the among the list. More power to the brave women of Kashmir," she wrote on Twitter. 

"Looking back into the past leads to the realisation that the politics of conflict, war and destruction is interconnected with Patriarchy. This is the time now that the world should accept the future as female," Haider said.

Other woman on the list included Precious Adams from the United States, Parveena Ahanger from Indian-occupied Kashmir, and Jasmine Akter from the Rohingya community.