Where is my father, asks jailed Paksitani judge’s son

Mehmood’s wife, who was part of the audience at Geo News’ popular show Capital Talk hosted on a footpath in Islamabad on Monday, told the audience in a choked voice, “My 11-year-old son keeps asking me — where is my father? Now I have run out of words.”

Her ordeal brought tears to many in the audience and they stood up to tell her that they are with her. She asked the audience what was her husband’s fault as he had only tried to stand with people who are struggling for freedom.

She said the first 10 days of his arrest were the worst. She had no clue about his whereabouts, her children panicked, and her son kept asking her when his father would come back.

Mehmood was once a top judge of the Balochistan High Court. He resigned after refusing to conduct the controversial Presidential referendum of 2002.

After his arrest, he was made to sleep on the cold floor of a cell in Sahiwal Jail to break his nerves and punish him for his acts of defiance since he quit the judiciary to register his protest, The News reported on Tuesday.

When Mehmood’s health deteriorated and he developed a severe back pain, he was taken to a hospital in Lahore, the paper said.

Mehmood, who was reportedly threatened by the government after he resigned as a judge, is often given the credit for starting the activism in the otherwise dormant judiciary of Pakistan.

To acknowledge his act of defiance, the legal fraternity had earlier elevated him to the prestigious office of President of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

He again earned respect when he became a member of the legal team that successfully defended Iftikhar M Chaudhry.