Several PTI leaders were arrested under MPO following the violent protests that erupted in the wake of former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9. The MPO was promulgated by the martial law administration of General Ayub Khan in the 1960s to curb dissent and has been termed by human rights quarters as a draconian piece of legislation.

The former minister has been arrested thrice in the last few weeks and earlier the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also declared her arrest under MPO illegal and ordered her release from Adiala Jail. However, shortly after she was released from Adiala Jail, she was arrested by Punjab police.

Imaan Mazari had moved LHC Rawalpindi against rearrest of her mother. Mazari’s daughter had requested the court to declare that the move was illegal, unconstitutional and in violation of fundamental rights.

Hearing the arguments made by the former minister’s lawyers, the LHC ordered her immediate release, declaring her arrest under MPO “unlawful”.

Shireen Mazari’s daughter Imaan Mazari had also accused the Islamabad police of manhandling her.

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The law states: “Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Federal or Provincial Government established by law shall be punished with imprisonment for life to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.”

Justice Shahid Karim of the LHC announced the judgement while hearing a set of petitions filed by citizens challenging the sedition law.

The petition stated that the law is exploited by the government authorities and is used to silence political opponents.

In 2020, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Mian Raza Rabbani also submitted a bill to the Senate Secretariat, seeking an amendment to the British colonial-era sedition law.

The bill moved by the PPP leader that Section 124-A is part of the inherited colonial structure of governance that continues in Pakis­tan.

This law served as a brutal occupying force and today is being applied with increasing regularity to crush political dissent and make the citizen submit to unquestionable obedience, the bill had stated.

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The Aurat March organising committee had last month requested a no objection certificate (NOC) from the district administration to hold a rally on March 8 at Nasser Bagh, Lahore, followed by a march around the perimeter of the park.

However, the DC denied permission to organise the Aurat March, citing “controversial” placards and the likelihood of clashes with members of Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI) ‘Haya March’ as grounds for the rejection.

Subsequently, the Aurat March’s organising committee filed a petition in the LHC.

Justice Anwaar Hussain heard the petition and passed the order after Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabir refused to hear the plea due to “personal reasons” and sent the case file to the LHC chief justice, requesting to mark it to another bench.

The petitioners maintained that the DC’s order is “an arbitrary and colourable exercise of power” and requested the court to strike down the commissioner’s order.

Regarding the security concerns and the JI’s planned march, the petitioners said they had requested the DC to facilitate them by ensuring security in holding the Aurat March, which would be confined within Nasir Bagh’s boundaries for the most part on March 8.

It was also requested that the court pass directions to concerned quarters to fully facilitate the petitioners and all the women of Lahore to peacefully participate in the Aurat March being organised at Nasir Bagh this year.

The Aurat March is held annually to observe International Women’s Day across several cities in Pakistan, including Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta, and Multan among others.

The basic demands behind the march are equal opportunities for everyone, including transgenders and women; raising awareness regarding gender-based violence, and calling on authorities to make laws in this regard. The demands also include risks related to climate change and the exploitation of the poor that comes with it among many other issues.

However, the organisers of the March face resistance from the government and regressive elements in society every year.

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