Ehsan Ali is a lifelong revolutionary activist and organiser. He is currently the chairman of the Awami Action Committee in Gilgit-Baltistan.
On 10 March, Ehsan Ali was arrested during a nighttime raid at his home. Several other leaders of the AAC were also arrested, including Nusrat Hussain, Mehboob Wali, Nafees Advocate and Mehar Ali. Others are still being hunted and have been forced to go into hiding.
Ehsan Ali and the arrested AAC leaders are now charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act, along with sections 153-A and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deal with the criminal offence of inciting violence.
What Is The Awami Action Committee (AAC)?
The Awami Action Committee is a form of community defence organisation. The AAC in Gilgit-Baltistan (AAC-GB) was set up by Ehsan Ali in 2014.
The AAC Gilgit-Baltistan has fought tirelessly on behalf of ordinary people for over a decade, campaigning for democratic rights, for the maintenance of subsidies on essential goods like wheat flour and for the provision of basic health and education facilities for the people of the region.
The AAC has also campaigned against environmental destruction in the territory.
Why is Ehsan Ali being persecuted?
Gilgit-Baltistan is an administrative region of Pakistan. Corruption, exploitation and theft have left it in an extreme state of poverty and underdevelopment, although the territory is abundant in natural resources, particularly mineral wealth and water. Locals are deprived of their livelihoods and lands, and the vibrant local ecosystem has been wrecked.
For over a decade, the AAC Gilgit-Baltistan has fought tirelessly on behalf of ordinary people, campaigning for democratic rights, for the maintenance of subsidies on essential goods like wheat flour and for the provision of basic health and education facilities for the people of the region. The AAC has also campaigned against environmental destruction in the territory.
Then, on 15 May 2025, a wave of arrests was launched targeting AAC leaders in Gilgit-Baltistan, with the intention of suppressing the organisation. In total, 15 people were taken into custody and tried under anti-terror laws.
Supporters of the AAC in Gilgit-Baltistan rallied to demand the detainees’ release. They held huge rallies and sit-ins in the territory, many of them led by women. Major protests were also held all across Pakistan, as well as in Kashmir. The state responded with a brutal crackdown of arrests, torture, threats and by stoking religious sectarianism.
In response, our international solidarity campaign was launched last year, in which hundreds of letters of protest were sent, endless phone calls were made, and repeated demonstrations were held outside Pakistani diplomatic missions all over the world.
Our campaign was endorsed by campaign groups, leading activists, politicians and trade unions representing millions of workers all over the world, including Amazon Labor Union leader Chris Smalls, Seattle City Councillor Kshama Sawant and prominent academic Slavoj Žižek.
Finally, after almost three months of protest, all prisoners from AAC-GB were released on bail.
Why is Ehsan Ali currently in prison?
Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran in February 2026, the Pakistani authorities have carried out massive energy price hikes, partly as a result of the impact of the war itself, which has thrown energy markets into disarray. As a result, the state was eager to preemptively silence dissent from the AAC.
The war in Iran has also led to major protests against this war within Pakistan, starting on 1 March, which have been attacked by the security forces, including in Gilgit-Baltistan, where at least 14 people were killed by the authorities and many more injured.
Before his arrest, Ehsan Ali used his platform to oppose the killing of these protesters by the state authorities and tried to warn against provocations to incite sectarian tensions. He also visited the wounded in a hospital in Gilgit.
On 8 March, leaders of the Awami Action Committee in Gilgit-Baltistan, including Ehsan Ali, were invited to an iftar dinner, where they condemned the killings and discussed possible AAC protests around price hikes, the Land Reform Act and other issues affecting ordinary people.
This was the impetus for their arrest two days later, on charges of ‘terrorism’ and ‘inciting violence’.
Ehsan Ali’s time in custody has been largely spent in gruelling and inhumane prison conditions. These conditions caused him to develop a serious heart condition, as well as severe pneumonia, leading him to be transferred to hospital.
Instead of receiving the treatment he requires, however, doctors treating Ehsan Ali report being pressured by the authorities to make statements saying that he was fit to return to jail. One doctor, who supports the AAC, refused to do so and has since been transferred to another job in a distant part of the country, evidently as punishment.
Imprisoned AAC members have also faced immense pressure from the authorities to denounce Ehsan Ali for his supposed crimes.
After 70 days of police custody, during which his ‘crimes’ were ‘investigated’, Ehsan Ali is now being held in a cell under judicial custody. This extended period of custody during the investigation, in which no actual legal proceedings could take place, is a hangover from British colonial law.
While previously this period was kept at a maximum of 14 days, the Pakistani state recently extended it to up to 90 days in cases of ‘terrorism’. This allows the authorities to lock up individuals for three months without a conviction or even a trial.
Given his poor health and the dire prison conditions, it is clear that his extended time in a cell poses an existential threat to Ehsan Ali’s health. This is not lost on the authorities, who have reportedly sent explicit instructions to local police officials stating that their intention is to “let him die”.
This is the real reason that Ehsan Ali is being held in custody for so long. The authorities would rather he die from the brutal conditions than live to see a trial.
Now that Ehsan Ali has been moved to judicial custody, his legal proceedings can now begin.
The state, however, is throwing everything they have at Ehsan Ali. They have attempted to revoke the bail he was granted last year. His name has been placed on the ‘Fourth Schedule’, meaning the state can track his movements. Undoubtedly the state’s case against him will rely on every fabrication and maneuver they have at their disposal.
We cannot allow this injustice to continue. We will not stop until Ehsan Ali and the imprisoned AAC leaders are unconditionally released, all charges are dropped, and Ehsan Ali is removed from the Fourth Schedule.
To achieve this, we need your help! Find out about how you can support and spread the campaign here.