By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: YouTuber and comedian Aun Ali Khosa, whose satirical song “Bill Bill Pakistan” criticized soaring electricity rates and parodied the famous “Dil Dil Pakistan”, has been released after being taken from his home by police and plainclothes officers last week, his lawyers said on Monday.
The song’s witty critique of the government’s handling of power prices had apparently irked authorities, leading to his brief detention.
“God willing, Aun Ali Khosa has been released! Arrived home!” Khadija Siddique, one of Khosa’s lawyers, said in a X post.
Khosa was taken from his home in Lahore on Aug. 15 by around eight to ten police officers and men in plain clothes, who also confiscated his mobile phone, computer, and camera.
“Aun Ali Khosa’s family has confirmed that he has reached home safely,” Mian Ali Ashfaq, another lawyer for Khosa, said on social media.
His wife, Binish Iqbal, had filed a petition in court claiming that her husband was in “unlawful and illegal custody” and that she feared for his safety.
Amnesty International had urged the government to disclose Khosa’s whereabouts and conduct an “effective, independent and impartial investigation” into his disappearance.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan also said it was alarmed by reports of Khosa’s abduction and concerned that the incident may be related to his work as a satirist.
Khosa, a critic of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, was picked up a day after releasing a satirical song about high power prices, which gained millions of views before being removed from YouTube.
His YouTube channel has over 150,000 subscribers and 13.6 million views.
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