LONDON: Rochdale Borough Council's deputy leader, Councillor Daalat Ali, is facing a delayed return to Britain after a civic visit to Pakistan in which he was first detained by authorities on arrival and then, according to community sources, offloaded at Lahore airport as he tried to fly home.
The Labour councillor for Kingsway ward travelled to Pakistan with a Rochdale delegation led by the borough's ceremonial mayor, Councillor Faisal Rana, to visit Sahiwal, Rochdale's twin city in Punjab.
Rochdale Borough Council has confirmed he was held for a "short period" and believes the detention relates to his long-standing campaigning on Kashmir. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has confirmed a man was detained and released. Pakistani authorities have not explained why he was held, and Daalat Ali has not commented publicly.
Held on arrival
Rumours that Daalat Ali had been detained began circulating on social media last week. The Manchester Evening News then reported that the town hall had confirmed he was held for a "short period" on arrival.
According to sources close to the councillor, he was questioned by Pakistani authorities for several hours at Islamabad airport. The airport security detained him "for a while", they said. After contact between British and Pakistani officials, he was allowed to rejoin the mayor and the rest of the delegation.
In a statement, Rochdale Borough Council said, "We understand that councillor Daalat Ali was detained by authorities in Pakistan for a short period while travelling as part of a civic delegation from Rochdale.
“As far as we are aware, this is related to Councillor Ali's long-standing personal campaigning in relation to the Kashmir region and it is not unusual for people who travel to this region to be detained and questioned about their political views. Councillor Ali is safe and well and has since been able to continue travelling with the party and undertake meetings with government officials and dignitaries, as part of the visit's itinerary," it said.
The FCDO confirmed that a man had been detained and released and said it was "in contact with local authorities".
The Manchester Evening News said it had tried to contact Pakistani authorities, who have not confirmed the reason for the detention. Rochdale Daily carried the same account on 28 October.
Stopped at Lahore on the way home
The situation took a further turn at the end of the visit. According to Iftikhar Kalwal, a YouTuber, Ali was offloaded from a flight at Lahore airport last night.
Writer and researcher Shams Rehman, a friend of the councillor, relayed a separate account from sources close to him. They said officials in Lahore told Councillor Ali he needed to complete further paperwork at the relevant office in Islamabad before he could leave. He and other members of the delegation then travelled to Islamabad.
He said, Ali has sent a message confirming he is not in custody, and that he hopes to return to Britain soon once the formalities are complete. According to inputs he received from Pakistan, Rehman stressed that the delay should not be read as meaning he is being held.
The nature of the paperwork, and how long it will take, have not been independently verified. It is also unclear on what grounds he was detained. Kalwal said it is believed to relate to his outspoken criticism of rights violations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Friends and British Kashmiris close to the councillor have voiced concern. Kalwal said the case would draw wider attention in UK mainstream media following the Lahore incident.
The Sahiwal delegation
The delegation left for Pakistan around two weeks ago on a civic, municipal and charity tour. Alongside Cllr Ali and Mayor Faisal Rana, it included other Rochdale delegates, who have shared photos and details of their meetings on social media.
The trip aims to strengthen links between Rochdale and Sahiwal in Punjab. The two were twinned in 1998, and many Rochdale residents have family roots in the city.
Despite the earlier detention, the council said Cllr Ali went on to attend meetings with government officials and dignitaries as planned. Rochdale Daily reported that the programme included the opening of a Sewing Machine Centre run by the Al-Mahmood Foundation, part of efforts to support community projects in both areas.
Who is Daalat Ali?
Daalat Ali comes from Kotli in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir and has lived in the UK for decades. He was first elected to Rochdale Borough Council in 2010 and now serves as Labour deputy leader and Kingsway ward councillor.
In Rochdale, he has helped found several Kashmiri community and cultural institutions, including a youth project, a research centre and a broadcaster for the region's languages.
On both sides of the Line of Control and among the diaspora, his identity is more literary than political. He is a well-known writer in the Pahari language and has published more than half a dozen story collections and novels.
He is best known for Lakeer, recognised as the first feature film made in Pahari. Written and produced by Ali, and directed by Shiv Dutt, it is an independent cross-border collaboration exploring the generational trauma of separation in Jammu and Kashmir.
The film follows two young lovers in the undivided Jammu and Kashmir of the 1940s who are forced apart by partition. The story moves from Pakistan to 21st-century India, when the two countries open cross-border travel for families split by the Line of Control. The elderly lovers reunite after some 60 years, but tragedy follows: the authorities allow them only one month together, and not a day more.
Wider context
The case has prompted sharp commentary from Kashmiri writers abroad. In an opinion piece for JK Voices, titled "A State Afraid of Its Own People", Swedish-Kashmiri journalist and filmmaker Talat Bhat argued the detention fits a pattern of Pakistan's growing intolerance of dissent.
Bhat noted unverified social media claims that Daalat Ali had been labelled a "domestic terrorist over support for Kashmiri independence”. He stressed these claims were unconfirmed, but said their plausibility to many Kashmiris was itself telling.
He placed the case alongside events in Pakistan-administered Kashmir this year. Bhat referred to the authorities in Muzaffarabad banning the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) under the region's Anti-Terrorism Act. The JKJAAC is a coalition of traders, lawyers, transporters and students campaigning on electricity prices, wheat costs, corruption and fair elections.
The ongoing crisis is characterized by mass arrests, sedition cases, bounties of ten million rupees on protest leaders, seizure of activists' businesses and internet shutdowns. In November 2025, Pakistan's 27th Constitutional Amendment created a Chief of Defence Forces post for Field Marshal Asim Munir, with lifetime legal immunity, and set up a new Federal Constitutional Court. Chatham House said it moved Pakistan closer to authoritarian rule.
Bhat also warned that far-right accounts in Britain had seized on the detention to question why Ali holds office in England. He called on the UK government to explain what consular help was given and on what legal basis a serving British councillor was held, and urged Rochdale council to speak more plainly.
His piece was written before the council and FCDO statements were widely reported, and said no official body had commented at that point.
What is still unknown
Why did Pakistani authorities detain Daalat Ali on arrival? What paperwork he must complete in Islamabad, and when he will be able to leave? Whether the FCDO is providing consular support over the delayed return?
Have you liked the news article?
Support us now:
https://www.gofundme.com/manage/jammu-kashmirs-sole-independent-voice-under-threat