Asma Jahangir Conference that was held in Lahore over the weekend was disrupted by protests of pro-Palestine students during the German Ambassador’s speech. The Ambassador was there to speak about civil rights. He was interrupted by students calling him out for his country being complicit in the genocide by Israel in the Gaza Strip. To this, the ambassador responded, ‘If you want to shout, go out!’”. The students were reportedly expelled from the event.
The move was heavily criticised by netizens all over the internet.
Founder of Digital Rights Foundation Nighat Dad spoke at the conference and condemned the act of expelling students as she said, “What happened yesterday should not be taken lightly, as this sets a very wrong example”.
Ikram Ullah Maseed criticised the organizers of the conference by saying, “Shameful betrayal of Asma Jahangir’s legacy. If radical voices aren’t welcome, why hold the conference?”
Senator Allama Raja Nasir called out the organizers of the conference for blatantly banning the voices of dissent. “Germany’s systematic suppression of pro-Palestinian voices, including the banning of prominent speakers like former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, exposes a shameful bias and undermines the very foundations of democratic discourse.”
Journalist Arafat Mazhar who was one of the first to share the videos of the German Ambassador shutting down the protestors recently tweeted that, “Twitter has completely banned me from retweet or comments of on the video of German ambassador shouting at civil rights activist at the asma jahangir human rights conference”
The protesting students, who belonged to Progressive Students’ Collective, released a statement calling out the German Ambassasor for speaking about human rights while the German government is supporting Israel in its aggression and genocide in Gaza.
