CORRECTION APPENDED

As civil unrest rocks their home country, Harvard’s Pakistani students have found relief in the safety of their families and in plans to stage protests in Boston Common.

But for one student, involvement in the events has been less of a choice. Samad Khurram ’09, a Harvard undergraduate taking time off in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, has witnessed the events firsthand, and has protested against President Pervez Musharraf’s government.

“The government has declared a state of emergency,” said Khurram, who had taken time off from college to work with a political campaign for the now-postponed January 2008 parliamentary elections, “but that is just an official word. It’s justification for martial law.”

Khurram has heard of 40 different checkpoints in his hometown, roughly 500 to 600 arrests in the past two days, and restrictions on the media, including police raids on independent television stations.

On Saturday, Musharraf declared Pakistan in a state of emergency, citing growing threats from terrorism and activism. The blackout of 35 private television stations, which occurred even before Musharraf had announced the institution of emergency rule, was the first in a series of government-imposed changes that have incited chaos and disruption.

Musharraf had dismissed a number of Supreme Court justices; suspended the constitution and rights to speech, press, and assembly; and granted extensive powers to the military. Some lawyers, judges, activists, and students have been preemptively kept under house arrest or detained by the police for protesting.

“It’s a travesty,” Adaner Usmani ’08 said. “[Musharraf] has completely eroded Pakistan’s democratic fabric...It’s a very, very sad development.”

Omer Aftab ’10 and other Pakistani students have joined a Facebook group called “Society for the Objection to Emergency Rule in Pakistan,” which denounces Musharraf’s move toward dictatorship.

Aftab is in the process of making a Web site, an information portal with the latest updates from individuals in Pakistan.

Despite the disturbing situation in Pakistan, Aftab and Maham Siddiqi ’11 said their immediate family members have remained safe.

“Basically whenever there are situations like this in our country, it’s people that are protesting and rioting who are the ones affected by the emergency rule.,” Siddiqi said.

“The people in their homes are not affected in a negative way,” he added. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

The bigger problem, Aftab said, is the political situation and the treatment of those who are openly opposed to Musharraf.

“Students who are protesting are in danger,” he said. “If you go out with slogans, you are very likely to be attacked.

“Without a constitution, you can be arrested without any warning, held without a trial,” he said.

“My parents are fine; people who aren’t involved in politics in any way are safe and secure,” he added. “Those who are have to pay the price.”

Khurram said Harvard students also need to get involved to raise attention to the matter.

“To get Musharraf to reverse his decision of emergency rule, there have to be some sort of huge protests...The name Harvard itself has such weight in Pakistan,” Khurram said.

CORRECTION

The Nov. 7 news article "Pakistani Students Criticize Musharraf" incorrectly referred to Maham Siddiqi '11 as male. In fact, Siddiqi is female.