The report releasted last month documents “intimidation, harassment and persecution” of human rights defenders, along with restrictions on protests and the use of counter-terrorism and digital laws to criminalise dissent. It rates Pakistan’s civic space as “repressed,” the second-worst category, citing a pattern of escalating state controls on expression and assembly.

“Since coming to power, the Shehbaz Sharif government has escalated its repression of activists… silencing critical voices,” said Josef Benedict, an Asia researcher at CIVICUS, calling on authorities to “reverse course” and protect fundamental rights.

The report highlights arrests, legal cases and surveillance targeting prominent activists and lawyers, as well as a broader clampdown on ethnic Baloch and Pashtun movements demanding accountability for enforced disappearances. It also documents increasing use of laws such as the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act to pursue online critics and block digital content.

Journalists have faced mounting pressure, including arrests, investigations and alleged attacks, contributing to what CIVICUS described as a “chilling effect” on media freedom. Protest restrictions have also intensified, with authorities frequently imposing blanket bans and using force to disperse demonstrations, per the report.

The findings come against the backdrop of political tensions following Pakistan’s 2024 elections, which the report says were marked by restrictions on opposition activities and media coverage. Despite these concerns, the country was elected to the UN Human Rights Council for a three-year term earlier this year.

CIVICUS said the situation runs counter to Pakistan’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

News Desk

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The arrests took place in Sector F-6 of the federal capital, where participants had assembled for the rally. Organizers had announced plans to march from F-6 to D-Chowk, a key protest site in the city center. Police briefly blocked nearby roads during the operation, reopening them after the detainees were taken into custody. Veteran human rights activists Tahira Abdullah and Farazana Bari are among those arrested.

The Aurat March X account quoted three journalists who were later released as saying that women were dragged and beaten up by police while being arrested.

District administration officials said the event had not been granted a No Objection Certificate (NOC), which is required to hold public gatherings. They added that Section 144 – a legal provision restricting public assemblies – was in effect in Islamabad at the time. Authorities said the participants were detained for violating these restrictions.

Aurat March organizers, however, said they had submitted an application for an NOC to the deputy commissioner roughly a month earlier and that their request had not been formally rejected.

The arrests drew widespread condemnation.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a post on X: “HRCP demands the immediate release of @Aurat_marchisb organisers and participants, who were arrested earlier today by the Islamabad police. Marking International Women’s Day is the legitimate right of all Pakistani women and must be respected by the authorities. Such oppressive measures in the name of maintaining law and order are highly deplorable.”

Former senator Farhatullah Babar tweeted: “Women activists in front of press club Islamabad arrested without provocation on Int’l Women Day today and sent to women police station. We are at police station for over 2 hours wanting to see them but access is not allowed. Sad, unfortunate. Demand immediate release.”

Former state minister and leader of the Awam Pakistan party, Zafar Mirza, wrote on X: “@AwamPakistan condemn the arrests of the participants of the Aurat March in Islamabad today on the occasion of International Women Day. Peaceful protest is the constitutional and democratic right of every citizen, and actions such as arrests for exercising this right are against democratic values. The government and relevant institutions should respect this fundamental right of citizens and immediately release the arrested persons.

However, Awaam Pakistan also emphasize that all protestors should abide by the law and regulations so that the protest remains peaceful and does not create any kind of unrest or conflict.”

The Aurat March is an annual demonstration held in several Pakistani cities on March 8 to mark International Women’s Day and highlight issues such as gender-based violence, workplace discrimination, and women’s rights.

The rallies have frequently faced pushback from authorities and conservative groups. In 2023, clashes broke out between police and demonstrators during the march in Islamabad, with officers blocking access to protest sites and attempting to disperse participants. In other years, organizers have faced legal petitions seeking to halt the demonstrations, as well as police cases and accusations over slogans and banners displayed during the rallies.

Fariha Ijaz

The writer is an Assistant Editor at Dissent Today, focusing on extremism and political violence.

The post Pakistan Police Arrest 17 at Islamabad Aurat March on Women’s Day appeared first on Dissent Today.

These executions took place in sports stadiums across three different provinces. The total number of public executions since 2021 now stands at 10, per AFP.

In a statement, Amnesty International condemned the executions.

“The Taliban de facto authorities continue to flagrantly flout human rights principles with complete disregard for international human rights law. We oppose all executions as a violation of the right to life,” it said.

“Carrying out executions in public adds to the inherent cruelty of the death penalty and can only have a dehumanizing effect on the victim and a brutalizing effect on those who witness the executions,” the statement added.

Amnesty International called on the international community to put pressure on the Taliban “to end this blatant human rights violation and help ensure that international safeguards are respected in Afghanistan.”

The executed individuals were “sentenced to retaliatory punishment” for allegedly shooting other men. The Afghan Supreme Court said their cases were “examined very precisely and repeatedly,” but human rights groups have raised concerns that trials under the Taliban are not fair.

“The families of the victims turned down the opportunity to offer the men amnesty,” per the Supreme Court.

News Desk

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A 40-year-old Ahmadi man was reportedly axed to death in Rawalpindi, in what the community has described as a faith-based attack.

Tayyab Ahmad, who was in Rawalpindi visiting his brother, is survived by a widow.

The incident took place at the workplace of the slain man’s brother, who is a businessman and had been receiving threats from religious extremists. According to a spokesperson for the Ahmadi community, as the attacker struck the victim with an axe, he kept saying, “I have warned you Qadianis to leave this place.”

Earlier, extremists had allegedly attacked his brother’s shop by throwing stones at it and had been issuing threats. Ahmad’s brother had recently moved his family out of Rawalpindi due to these threats. The brother, who was present at the site of the incident, survived the attack.

In a statement, the Ahmadi community spokesperson noted that perpetrators of such hate crimes against the community are never brought to justice. “The government must put an end to the hate speech and violence against the community,” the statement added.

News Desk

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When you arrive at her home, words aren’t necessary—her hollow gaze and the way she cradles the photograph of a young man reveal a world of grief and longing. She never lets it out of her sight, never places it on the floor. The picture she holds so dearly is of her missing son, Sami Ullah Mengal, for whom she fasted for months, even through Nushki’s intense summer heat. Nushki is one of the hottest regions in Balochistan, but she remained steadfast in her prayers. Over the years, she sacrificed more than 25 goats and a cow, selling the gold jewelry she had saved for Sami’s wedding—a Baloch tradition where the groom’s family gifts gold according to their means.

Her son, Sami, who was then 18-years-old, was forcibly disappeared 15 years ago from Quetta, Balochistan. Since that day, this woman has known no peace. She shared that she often dreams of him, but in all her dreams, he is still a child. “It’s been 15 years, and now he’s grown up. I wish I could see him as he is now, in my dreams,” she says, her voice trembling.

For the past 15 years, Bibi Hajira has kept her door open—day and night, through the coldest winters and the fiercest storms. Not once has she shut it, even during the harshest weather. “I keep my door open because, maybe someday, in the middle of the night, Sami will come back from the dungeons and he will think of me that his mother didn’t wait for him,” she says. 

Her other children ask her not to leave the door open in winter, when the cold seeps into the house. But she remains firm. “I keep the door open because what if he returns late at night? I don’t want him to feel cold while waiting outside.”

Sami was a young boy, yet he volunteered as a tutor in Nushki. After his classes, he would come home for lunch and then return to teach the kids, spending his days this way.

“He was very sincere and sensitive, unlike my other children. He loved education,” his mother shared, her voice filled with pride. She recalled a moment when she told him, “Why are you wasting your time with these kids? Rest at home.”

His response still echoes in her heart: “They are our future, mother. Let them be educated.”

Sami Mengal was a Zoology student in his third semester at the University of Balochistan when he was abducted by the Frontier Corps (FC) in August 2009. It happened for the first time in Quetta’s Satellite Town, while he was on his way to teach a tuition class. He was accused of possessing a hand grenade and was kept in custody for 14 days. His case was brought before a session’s court in Quetta, and he was detained in the Central Jail for two months. A bail application was filed for him as his exams were scheduled for November. After appearing twice before the session court, he was released in November.

However, on November 16, 2009, after his court appearance, things took a darker turn. Sami’s elder brother, Abdul Rehman Mengal, was with him that day. They were at T. Dees tailor shop on Dr. Bano Road to collect Eid clothes. As the tailor was preparing to dispatch the garments, a black Vigo vehicle pulled up in front of the shop. “They were armed but in plain clothes. They covered our heads with clothes and took us to the Quetta cantonment. Our pictures were taken. Sami was then taken through another gate,” his brother recalled.

That was the last time Abdul Rehman would see his brother. An hour and a half later, they handcuffed Abdul Rehman, placed him in a car, and dropped him off on an empty road. They removed his handcuffs and threw him out of the car.

“It was desolate, and I could feel there were no humans around. I didn’t even know where I was. It was freezing cold,” he says. “The shawl I had been holding before the abduction was thrown over me, and they left.” He continued walking, struggling against the freezing cold of Quetta’s night. It wasn’t until later that he realized he was on Airport Road.

When they returned his mobile phone, he called his uncle. Around 4 p.m., they reached the Civil Lines Police Station in Quetta, but the police refused to file a report. The next day, Abdul Rehman held a press conference in Quetta and filed a Constitutional Petition in the High Court. Following the High Court’s orders, they were finally able to file an FIR.

Sami’s brother, Abdul Rehman, shared that in 2010, the Supreme Court formed the commission of inquiry for missing persons, with a mandate to investigate enforced disappearances and provide recommendations for eliminating this practice. 

Justice Fazal-ur-Rehman registered Sami’s case with the commission, and the proceedings began. At the same time, the case was ongoing in the High Court. However, Justice Faizi of the High Court later dismissed the case because Abdul Rehman, who was a professor at Nushki Degree College, missed a court hearing.

“I couldn’t travel from Nushki to Quetta for one hearing, and they dismissed the case. But justice was never given,” he recalled.

After the High Court dismissed the case, Abdul Rehman submitted a petition to the Supreme Court. During this time, the commission’s chief justice changed, and Justice Mohammad Ghaus took over. “He then rejected my case, citing the High Court’s dismissal,” he shared.

A year and a half later, a Supreme Court bench came to Quetta for registry, and Abdul Rehman brought Sami’s case before them again. “They sent my case back to the Commission on Missing Persons and overturned the High Court’s dismissal.”

Abdul Rehman further recounted that he was an eyewitness to Sami’s enforced disappearance, along with two others: the tailor who saw Sami taken and a third man, from Sindh, who was detained in the same torture cell as Sami. Upon his release, this man came to their mother and shared what he had seen. He even recorded a video testimony, which Abdul Rehman later submitted to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

During this time, Justice Fazal-ur-Rehman once again became head of the commission. Court proceedings continued, and the evidence was accepted, leading to the issuance of a production order for Sami. Still, there was no progress.

“I wrote another application to the commission,” Abdul Rehman said. “Five months later, I was summoned, only to be told to return after two months.” On his second visit, he was informed that the commission was awaiting explanations from the agencies. Another four to five months passed, yet the commission never summoned him again.

In 2012, a UN team on missing persons visited Pakistan and at Quetta at Serena Hotel to document cases of missing persons, and Abdul Rehman registered Sami’s case there as well. “To this day, we have no trace of him,” he said, his voice tinged with frustration.

“After following all the legal channels, Sami was never released. I still wonder how the court dismissed my case over missing a single hearing, while the judiciary itself failed to deliver justice in 15 years—even with all the evidence I provided,” he laments.

Rehman no longer believes in the judiciary or the law and has stopped going to court. “Sami was the youngest of us. My siblings and I have all grown up, and now we have children of our own. Deep down, I know Sami is no longer alive. The way the man from Sindh described his torture—no one could survive that. And even if he had, how could a young man endure such suffering for 15 years?”

Sami’s mother still held onto hope that when Sami was released, she would cook a feast for the entire town of Nushki, so everyone could celebrate his return.

At the Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s gathering in Nushki on August 12, families of the forcibly disappeared sat together, united in their grief. Among them was Hajira Bibi, enduring the extreme heat. Every ten minutes or so, she would lose consciousness, then wake, splash water on her head, and sit back up—only to faint again.

“I am weak now; it’s hard for me to even move,” she admitted. “But I wanted to be here, to show my presence for my beloved Sami, even if it means feeling this weakness and fainting over and over.”

Sami’s father died in 2017 waiting for his son. “Before he passed, he told me his final wish, which has since become my mission, even as I feel like I am nearing my own final days,” she shared. “He said, ‘If Sami is ever released, bring him to my grave and make him stand in a way that I can see him.’ I feel the weight of those words, feeling I failed as a wife because I couldn’t fulfill his wish and bring Sami to his father’s grave.’”

Although her movements are limited, she still attends protests, even in a wheelchair. “My children worry about me and try to stop me, but they’ve learned to let me go,” she said. “They think I’m being stubborn, but how can anyone understand the madness that grips a mother when her young, handsome son disappears?”

Hazaran Rahim Dad

The author is a Balochistan-based feature writer covering war and enforced disappearances in the province.

The post A Baloch Mother’s Agonizing Quest To Reunite With Her Missing Son appeared first on Dissent Today.

The government of Pakistan’s decision to ban the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a social movement that originated from the country’s peripheries, sends a troubling message to citizens—that their constitutional rights do not matter and that maintaining a non-violent stance will lead to harsh treatment. Since its inception, PTM has remained committed to peaceful protests. The non-violent nature of the struggle has been the movement’s greatest strength, and this peaceful approach is what appears to have provoked the state. The PTM has always been peaceful in its struggle, contrasting sharply with the actions of some mainstream political parties, such as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which have resorted to violence in recent protests in several cities. Despite the unrest caused by these groups, they have been allowed to operate.

The way the state recently attempted to violently prevent the Grand National Jirga (dialogue) of Pashtuns organized by the PTM further reveals its intolerance for peaceful protests. The PTM called for a grand dialogue to discuss the situation of Pashtuns in Pakistan, the ongoing proxy wars in the region and their impact on Pashtuns, the militarization of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the way forward. Pashtun political parties, academics, activists, and Pashtuns from various backgrounds were invited to the jirga. District Khyber was selected as the venue for the gathering. However, the state began disrupting preparations by initiating a crackdown against the PTM. In response to this call for the jirga, the federal government announced a ban on the PTM and declared it a proscribed organization. On October 9, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police and Frontier Corps launched an attack on the campsite of the jirga, opening fire on PTM activists present at the venue. Four PTM activists were killed, and many others were injured. Mobile networks in the area were shut down. This is how the state, including both the federal and provincial governments, chose to respond to the PTM’s call for a gathering of Pashtuns for peace.

About a month ago, the Supreme Court of Pakistan was compelled to reverse a ruling in favor of the rights of a religious minority group due to violent protests and threats from TLP aimed at the Chief Justice. This difference in the state’s response to protests by social movements and extremist groups highlights a concerning reality: violent groups are taken seriously, while peaceful advocacy is met with repression.

The origin of PTM

The PTM was founded primarily as a response to the state’s oppression in the Pashtun regions of Pakistan. Over the decades, the state used the region of ex-FATA (tribal districts that were merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018) as a launching pad for Project Taliban, a state agenda aimed at protecting Western interests. Under this project, the people of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province endured significant injustices and had no channels through which to voice their grievances, leading to a constant rise in oppression.

It was the state that initially settled militants in that region, which resulted in widespread violence, including suicide bombings. After several years of TTP’s terror, a military operation against the Taliban was launched that displaced locals. They were reassured that normalcy would return when they are back home after the military operations. However, upon returning, they found their homes demolished. Instead of leading honorable lives after the military action, they faced further humiliation. Security forces regularly raided their homes without explanation, and they endured mistreatment at check posts—all justified under the guise of anti-militancy operations.

After the military operation, it became evident that terrorists had not been the primary targets; rather, it was the homes of ordinary citizens that were destroyed. The state displaced Pashtuns in the name of peace and subjected them to further humiliation. In this context, Pashtun youth rallied against the state. The PTM was founded in 2018 following the brutal killing of a Pashtun youth, Naqeebullah Mehsud, in a fake police encounter. The movement gained momentum very rapidly in a very short period of time.

PTM emerged as a response to decades of oppression faced by the Pashtun people. It laid the foundation for a new political narrative that challenged the establishment’s policies, advocating for justice and rights for the Pashtun community. And the movement began facing intimidation right after its formation. 

The government of Pakistan’s decision to ban the PTM, a social movement that originated from the country’s peripheries, sends a troubling message to citizens—that their constitutional rights do not matter.

The state’s double standards 

The state of Pakistan engaged in negotiations with the Taliban during a period marked by brutal acts, including beheadings and suicide bombings across the country. As a result of the violence, the government felt compelled to negotiate with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and their initial plan was to concede certain areas to the militant group. However, these intentions were disrupted by our protests. The state’s current accommodation of the Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suggests that this policy of giving space to the militants is being repeated.

This pattern of double standards was also apparent during the protests against election rigging earlier this year. While the PTI was allowed to protest and control the narrative surrounding alleged electoral mismanagement, our party, the National Democratic Movement, faced violence when we protested against rigging in Waziristan. I was shot and injured, and four of my colleagues lost their lives two days after the election—all because we sought accountability regarding the announcement of results in our constituency. The recent killing of four PTM activists during the state’s attempts to prevent the grand jirga serves as a reminder that this policy of using force against peaceful Pashtun protestors continues. 

This disparity in the treatment of dissenting voices in Punjab compared to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is alarming. The state has always overlooked the unrest perpetuated by religious extremist groups, such as the TLP and TTP. In contrast, peaceful social movements emerging from peripheral regions face disproportionate targeting and repression. This unjust treatment of individuals from smaller provinces has been a key feature in Pakistan’s relationship with these regions.

PML-N and PPP’s refusal to learn from the past

I urge the parties leading the federal government to learn from their past mistakes. During my time in the last National Assembly, I consistently warned PTI lawmakers not to facilitate legislation that granted unchecked power to the military establishment, as it could ultimately be used against them. I warned them that surrendering civilian authority to the establishment might make their own party vulnerable in the future, and that’s exactly what happened. 

Given PTI’s current situation, both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) should have learned a lesson. They have encountered similar challenges in the past, yet they seem unwilling to acknowledge this lesson. Their refusal to learn from history will cost them dearly.

Mohsin Dawar

The writer is a former Pakistani parliamentarian and chair of the National Democratic Movement.

The post Banning PTM Sends a Dangerous Message to the Youth appeared first on Dissent Today.

Mikhail Savostin
In exile since: 2021
Targeted for: Organizing and attending protests against Putin

In 2019, when Mikhail Savostin, an anti-Putin activist, was released after spending more than a year in a Russian prison in the southwestern city of Stavropol on dubious charges of marijuana possession, he realized that he was no longer strong enough to fight the regime. Having faced multiple arrests, torture and experienced a hunger strike in jail, his health had deteriorated. Finally, in August of 2021, Savostin, now 47, left Russia for Cyprus, hoping to win political asylum and start a new life.

The sense of safety he felt after arriving in Cyprus was short-lived, as he began receiving threats less than a year later for his online criticism of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. One morning, as he left his home, he was shocked to see what he described as a “warning” from Russian authorities. A poster had appeared in the city of Limassol, featuring black-and-white photos of prominent Russian dissidents based in Cyprus who had been critical of the Ukraine war, including Savostin. The poster included mourning ribbons and funeral lamps, implying that the individuals depicted were deceased. According to local media, some of these individuals were questioned by the Cyprus police prior to the emergence of the mysterious poster. While Savostin does not know who was behind this act, he believes it was a death threat issued by the Russian authorities as a result of his anti-Putin posts on social media, where he commands a significant following.

After the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian government intensified its crackdown on dissent. The authorities began actively targeting those who criticized the war. Within two weeks of the start of the war, at least 150 journalists were said to have fled Russia. In March of 2022, President Putin enacted a series of new laws criminalizing criticism of the invasion or the Russian army, making dissent even more dangerous.

Savostin was still awaiting a decision on his asylum application in Cyprus when he saw his photo on the poster, and news reports about critics of the war being persecuted added to his fears. In April of 2023, his asylum application was denied by Cyprus, prompting him to flee to the United States through the Mexico border, where he succeeded in getting asylum a month later.

According to Savostin, the authorities in Cyprus facilitate the Putin regime’s crackdown on dissidents by refusing to protect individuals seeking refuge in the country. He believes this is why he was denied asylum despite having a strong case.

Savostin worked as an activist in Russia for more than 20 years, during which time he also ran for government offices. He was once a candidate for deputy in the regional Duma (the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia).

Due to his activism, Savostin was jailed twice. The first time was in 1999, when he organized rallies against the alleged exploitation of low-wage workers, and he served a year in prison. Later, in 2018, he was jailed for attending a protest in Stavropol against Putin’s reelection. 

In 2019, the jail doctors misdiagnosed him with lung cancer, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the authorities released him and suspended his three-year sentence, believing he was going to die. “It was a mild illness, but they thought I was dying,” he said. “They didn’t want to be blamed for my death.”

After his release, he no longer had the energy to continue being chased by the police. He resumed some of his less risky activism work but decided to maintain a low profile—a far cry from his pre-arrest life. “I did not want to go to jail again. I have faced the worst conditions,” he told Dissent Today over a Zoom call from his place of residence in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “From torture to isolation, I was targeted as if I were one of the country’s most dangerous enemies.”

Savostin now lives in Minneapolis, where a Russian opposition group helped him find temporary housing. He had been active in political and activist circles back home, but is currently unemployed as he waits for his work authorization. “Not having a job makes it even harder to cope with the loneliness you experience after being detached from your country and your people,” he says.

Savostin has an 18-year-old son who is still in Russia and will soon have to enlist in the military for mandatory service. “I wanted to bring him to the U.S. before he turned 18 so that he does not have to participate in the Russian military’s war crimes,” he says.

But Savostin has received little support from human rights organizations in the U.S. in his efforts to bring his son to the country. He is relying on activist groups in Russia that are trying to move to America to bring his son along with them.

He was active on social media until recently; however, Savostin has now toned down his online activism and no longer writes or shares anything critical of Putin, fearing that his son might be targeted as a result.

“This self-censorship is part of my new identity,” he says. “There was a time when I was determined to keep speaking out against Putin’s crimes regardless of the consequences. But now, I don’t have it in me to fight this battle. I don’t want my son to suffer because of me.”

Savostin’s now ex-wife wanted him to return to Russia from Cyprus and assure the authorities that he had given up his activism, in order to guarantee the family’s safety. “But returning to Russia would have meant presenting myself for yet another jail term,” he said. Due to their disagreement on this matter, Savostin’s wife sought a divorce, and the couple parted ways.

As he waits for his work authorization, which has been delayed for over two weeks now, Savostin wonders if he will ever be able to truly adjust to life in the U.S. He does not speak English, which makes it harder to navigate the American immigration system and life in general. 

“The way they are delaying the process of issuing the work permit makes me question why they allow us to enter the U.S. in the first place if they do not have the resources to help us adjust,” he says.

Ailia Zehra

The writer is a journalist and the Founding Editor of Dissent Today. She covers politics, human rights, and religious extremism. She tweets at @AiliaZehra.

The post ‘Self-Censorship Shapes My New Identity’: Exiled Russian Activist Reflects on Leaving Activism Behind appeared first on Dissent Today.

On May 15, at around 1 a.m., Kashmiri poet and journalist Ahmad Farhad was forcibly disappeared from his home in the Soan Gardens area of Islamabad. When the abductors returned to Farhad’s house to remove cameras and DVRs to cover up their crime, it became clear that intelligence agencies were behind this incident.

The state of Pakistan has made every effort to actively turn its people against it by forcibly disappearing them, extrajudicially killing them, and/or labeling them “terrorists” or “anti-state elements.” In doing so, the state has actively burdened Pakistan’s already overburdened criminal justice system with false and frivolous litigation against peaceful dissidents.

Who would want to abduct a poet? Do we need to ask that question in the state of Pakistan anymore? Unfortunately, it would appear so. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, during proceedings of a case against enforced disappearances being live-streamed across the country, asked activist Amina Masood Janjua why the state or agencies would want to abduct her businessman husband, Masood Janjua, who was forcibly disappeared almost two decades ago.

This disconnect from reality was mercifully repaired by the Islamabad High Court’s adjudication of Ahmad Farhad’s case. The court made an unprecedented decision and summoned a sector commander of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) over Farhad’s enforced disappearance, questioning the agency’s role in it. The real abductors were named so openly for the first time, and the poet was eventually recovered (although he is yet to be released).

When the abductors are put in the hot seat and that garners media attention, that is the only time people have returned to their homes.

However, the senseless and dangerous targeting of Kashmiri dissidents continues. On April 25, a plumber, Abdul Saboor, was forcibly abducted in broad daylight from Sohan Express Highway, Islamabad. The abductors were armed with the latest weapons and took Abdul Saboor away in a white Toyota Hiace with no number plate.

Saboor’s father, Muhammad Riaz, ran from pillar to post in search of his son. The Khanna Police lodged an FIR under Section 365 of the Penal Code after a delay of four days (which is a standard practice in cases of enforced disappearance and clearly indicates the powerful quarters involved in this practice).

State agencies first abduct citizens and then without accounting for the period of illegal detention, rope them into FIRs containing non-bailable offenses. This is process as punishment and abuse of law to suppress dissent.

After Riaz moved a habeas corpus petition before the Islamabad High Court on June 4, the government produced an FIR dated May 30, falsely implicating Saboor in a criminal case under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Explosive Substances Act. No explanation was provided as to where Abdul Saboor was from April 25 to May 30, after known “unknown men” abducted him from the capital, in broad daylight.

This has also become a standard practice: rogue state agencies first abduct citizens and then without accounting for the period of illegal detention, rope them into FIRs containing non-bailable offenses. This is process as punishment and abuse of law to suppress and eliminate dissent.

Unfortunately, until the judiciary itself is able to recognize this practice in its jurisprudence and empower itself to nip this abuse of process/law in the bud, bails will be denied, as has been occurring in Ahmad Farhad’s case at the time of writing this article.

In the event that the state is unclear about the message it is giving to its citizens, let us explicitly say what message has been conveyed to us: no citizen should bother to reach out to the courts because by the time we make it to the courts, our loved ones will already have faced torture and illegal detention. The message being sent out is to exercise your lawful right of self-defense there and then against rogue agents of the state.

If this is the course of action the state wants peaceful citizens to adopt, then the only possible outcome is anarchy. It is high time for the powers that be to introspect and change their long-standing policy of enforced disappearance and abuse of criminal law to crush dissent.

In 70 years, this policy of oppression has only culminated in a sense of distrust among citizens against the state. This hatred will inevitably lead to more acts of violence. Instead of arresting and prosecuting actual terrorists, the state is too busy overburdening courts with frivolous litigation attempting to transform poets and plumbers into terrorists.

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post Pakistan’s Establishment Is Abducting Poets And Plumbers To Silence Dissent appeared first on Dissent Today.

In 2022, Shireen Mazari, the then human rights minister, claimed that the bill had gone missing after being sent to the Senate following approval by the relevant standing committee and the National Assembly.

Subsequently, Mazari also made the claim that she was summoned to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters regarding the bill. She further mentioned that after the bill was presented in the National Assembly (NA), it was referred to the interior committee where unidentified individuals attempted to alter its clauses. She expressed disappointment that the bill went missing en route to the Senate.

The matter of the bill being “missing” came up in the Supreme Court on January 2 during a hearing on enforced disappearances. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa expressed his astonishment at the bill’s disappearance from the Senate. He noted that this incident took place when the PTI was in power, saying that a serious allegation had been made against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.

In a statement released on Monday, the Senate Secretariat referred to the Supreme Court hearing on January 2 and acknowledged that a bill, originating from the National Assembly, appeared to have vanished during transmission to the Senate.

The statement denied the allegations that the Senate chairman hindered the federal minister’s attempt to have the bill passed. “Still, a false impression was created in the media that the bill actually went missing and Senate chairman or Senate Secretariat had a role in it,” it noted.

The issue of the criminalization of enforced disappearance was put on the backburner after the bill disappeared during the PTI government. Recently, caretaker Prime Minister Anwar Kakar attempted to justify the practice. He criticized those who are extending support to the ongoing Baloch sit-in in Islamabad against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

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The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), which operates as an officially-sanctioned death squad, has recently adopted a tactic of killing individuals held in custody in staged encounters. This phenomenon has further intensified crimes against the Baloch, who have been brutally terrorized and repressed since 1948. The Baloch nation can no longer be expected to suffer silently.

Due to the absence of the rule of law in the country, and the judiciary being as ineffective as a discarded dishrag, the commissions formed, such as “The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance”, are meant to whitewash the state’s organized and systematic policy of enforced disappearances. They also seek to intimidate and harass Baloch women who seek justice for their disappeared family members. These commissions have only succeeded in bullying Baloch complainants and misleading the general public about the issue of Baloch missing persons.

The Commission for Missing Baloch Students formed under Sardar Akhtar Mengal has also proven to be ineffective, as its report has been ignored. Students continue to be picked up in Islamabad and Balochistan with impunity, which proves that these commissions are worthless and have only been created to defuse rising resentment. These commissions do not have the trust of the affected people who have seen too many of these worthless entities.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), which operates as an officially-sanctioned death squad, has recently adopted a tactic of killing individuals held in custody in staged encounters. This phenomenon has further intensified crimes against the Baloch, who have been brutally terrorized and repressed since 1948. The Baloch nation can no longer be expected to suffer silently.

When the judiciary is helpless and the commissions are worthless, the question arises: what should the people do? They cannot be expected to let their loved ones remain at the mercy of the state, which continues to abduct them without even stating or proving what crimes they were accused of. Naturally, the only recourse available to them is to protest against the injustices perpetrated against them in Balochistan. These protests are unacceptable to the state and are either barred, blocked, or brutally dispersed, or misrepresented as part of an enemy agenda. The victims are stigmatized, and people in general blame them instead of the perpetrators of the crimes against humanity.

The Baloch have long protested peacefully for the recovery of their loved ones but have faced state’s highhandedness in response. Mama Abdul Qadeer Baloch, whose son Jalil Reki was a victim of disappearance and extrajudicial killing in November 2011, has been sitting outside Press Clubs for more than 5000 days, demanding recovery of the missing persons and an end to extra-judicial killings, but he is ignored.

Mama Qadeer, along with Farzana Majeed and female members of missing persons’ families, marched from Quetta to Karachi on October 27, 2013, and then onwards from Karachi to Islamabad, reaching there on March 1, 2014. This 106-day-long march was traversed on foot in difficult conditions, as the government put up obstacles, both social and physical, to deter the marchers. Despite the odds, these brave marchers accomplished a truly historic feat. I was a part of this historical march for 26 days. The public became aware of the issue of missing persons, but the state ignored it, and the disappearances continued.

The Baloch protests have long gone unheard 

When Zahid Baloch, the Chairman of BSO-Azad, was picked up in Quetta on March 18, 2014, with Asad Baloch, the organization, under Banuk Karima Baloch, decided to wait in hope that they would be released. However, after realizing that they would not be released, they started a hunger strike in Karachi on April 22, 2014. After 46 days, at the persuasion of civil society, Baloch elders, and myself, the emaciated hunger striker Latif Johar ended his strike on June 6, 2014. This protest also went unheeded.

There was a protest in Islamabad in February 2021 by Sammi Deen, Haseba Qambarani, and other affected persons. After a long delay, the then Minister of so-called Human Rights, Shireen Mazari, met them and promised a meeting with the then Prime Minister Imran Khan, which led to the protest ending. However, the meeting with Imran Khan was fruitless, and the grievances of the protesters were not addressed. Thankfully, Haseeba’s cousin and brother were eventually released.

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance is meant to whitewash the state’s organized and systematic policy of enforced disappearances. It also seeks to intimidate and harass Baloch women who seek justice for their disappeared family members.

Killings in fake “encounters” 

In response to the kidnapping and killing of Lt Col Laiq of the Pakistan Army on July 12, 2022, near Ziarat, 9 Baloch men who were already in state custody were killed in a fake encounter. The affected Baloch families started a protest in the Quetta Red Zone, which continued for 50 days and ended on assurances from ministers in Islamabad. However, nothing positive was done to address the grievances of the protesters.

On the night of November 22, 2023, the CTD claimed to have killed four terrorists in an encounter on Pasni Road in Turbat and recovered a large number of weapons. Among the four killed was Balach Mola Bakhsh, who was picked up on October 29, 2023. On November 21, a case of weapon possession was registered against him, and he was produced in court. His bail hearing was scheduled for the 23rd, but the CTD preempted it by killing him in a fake encounter along with three others who were already in custody.

The family, relatives, and friends protested on the 25th with Balach’s body outside the sessions court. The court ordered that an FIR be registered against the CTD, but the police refused to do so. The protest gained strength as thousands of women and men joined it. These were the largest protests seen in the area, and the number of protesters kept increasing. The family eventually buried the body after 7 days. The protest continued to expand, and after two weeks, on December 5th, they ended the protest in Turbat and decided to hold a sit-in in Quetta.

The latest Baloch awakening is a response to the Pakistani state’s repression of the Baloch which has continued unabated for over 70 years

Throughout their journey to Quetta, people came out in droves to show support and condemn the injustices against the Baloch. They reached Quetta on the 11th and began the sit-in. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee then decided to move the protest to Islamabad and left on the 15th evening, passing through Kohlu, Dera Ghazi Khan, Taunsa Sharif, and other cities, and finally reaching Islamabad on the 20th.

On the 21st, which also marked Banuk Karima’s 3rd death anniversary, the police unleashed a brutal assault on the protesters with batons, teargas, and water cannons, and arrested all of them. In the lockups, they beat up the women protesters as well. After widespread outcry, the women were released, but they were forced to board a bus to send them back to Quetta, which the conscientious drivers refused to comply with. The boys and men were kept in jail awaiting bail, as if peacefully protesting was a crime.

Mistreatment meted out to Baloch protestors in Islamabad 

The treatment of Baloch protesters in Islamabad was criminal and shameful, for which the caretakers are responsible and will have to answer someday. It remains to be seen how some supposedly liberal individuals like Murtaza Solangi will face the people once he is out of the cabinet.

The brutality was perpetrated to break the spirit of the protestors, but these souls have seen enough trauma and anguish to be deterred by this physical violence. The protestors are led by the indomitable, brave, dedicated, and eloquent Mahrang Baloch. As her spirit has not flagged, neither has the spirit of others who are equally brave and dedicated. The caretakers and those before them, ad infinitum, are not in any way friends of Baloch. If they were, the repression would have been replaced by recognition of rights at some stage.

To add insult to injury, some journalists, while interviewing Mahrang, confronted her with the repeated question, “Do you condemn the BLA, BLF?”. This was done to intimidate her and present the protestors as supporters of militancy in Balochistan. However, the cool-headed Mahrang eloquently countered the journalists’ aggressiveness with logical answers. Sadly,  many journalists come to protestors at the behest of their mentors in the establishment to malign the Baloch and their peaceful protest, so that people may refrain from supporting them. Some Islamabad journalists are notorious for this kind of attitude. When the VBMP Long March reached Islamabad on 1st March 2014, the same type of questions were thrown at the participants, and they had been forcefully answered by Farzana Majeed, sister of Zakir Majeed, who has been missing since 2009.

This sort of bullying and attempted intimidation of peaceful protestors by Pakistani journalists just adds to the already infamous reputation of the press and media of Pakistan, which incidentally also has the largest number of journalists killed for presenting the truth. These bullying journalists besmirch the noble name of the truthful journalists and should be called out and exposed as enemies of truth and servants of the establishment.

People unaware of Balochistan’s political dynamics are surprised that the Baloch protests are being traumatized in Islamabad at a time when a politician from Balochistan is serving as the PM. They fail to understand that Anwar Kakar is the PM not because he cares for the anguish and pain of Baloch, but because he is expected to help his mentors in the establishment inflict more pain on the Baloch. He was installed there not for any services to the Baloch, but because he has faithfully served the establishment, supported their injustices, and helped malign those Baloch who struggle for their rights.

We need to understand that this awakening is not something out of the blue. It is the result of the Pakistani state’s unabated repression of the Baloch that has continued for over 70 years and the ceaseless resistance to these injustices by the Baloch. The blood and tears shed over the years have given birth to this unparalleled wave of protest from Balochistan.

Repression has given birth to the fearlessness of Karima Baloch, who blazed the trail for Baloch women to come out and speak out fearlessly against the injustices and for the rights of the Baloch. She was an icon in her life and even more so after her tragic death. She inspires Baloch women to resist oppression of all sorts. Mahrang Baloch, who is now the face of peaceful resistance, is also a product of state repression. Her father, Ghaffar Langove, was abducted by the State, and his mutilated body was thrown in July 2011.

Sammi Deen, whose father Dr. Deen Mohammad has been missing since 2009, is also the undying spirit behind this awakening. There are so many unnamed Mahrangs and Sammis among the Baloch women who strive and struggle for Baloch rights and the recovery of their loved ones who remain missing, and their fates unknown.

The Baloch women and children have suffered unbearably from injustices, and the Pakistani State and its caretaker government decided to inflict more pain on them in Islamabad, where they came in hope of redemption from their woes. What happened in Islamabad to the Baloch children, women, and men on December 21 and the continuing harassment of the protesters after that, will not be easily forgiven or forgotten. It will only strengthen the people’s resolve to struggle against a callous and heartless state.

Those hoping to break the Baloch spirit should understand that the more they repress, the more we will resist. The more you repress, the more Karimas, Sammis, and Mahrangs you will have to face, and it is you who will eventually be defeated.

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

The writer has been associated with the Baloch movement since 1971. He tweets @mmatalpur and can be reached at mmatalpur@gmail.com.

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