News Desk
Holding a protest is a democratic right, and people are allowed by the government of the day to express their anger and demands. However, it is not the case in Pakistan. The installation of protruding spikes on a bridge to stop the recent march by opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had left onlookers recoiling in horror. Amnesty International has expressed concerns over the Pakistan government “weaponizing” laws and employing deeply degrading methods to suppress dissent.
It showed that the rulers in Islamabad could stoop to any level to prevent or tame people’s protests. But it is not a novel case. There are several incidents involving the physically brutal and potentially life-threatening methods used by the hybrid civil-military regime against protesters. The dark, inhuman, shocking tactics used in recent years would send shockwaves of horror through the civilised world.
As the PTI organised a protest march to Islamabad against the electoral manipulation, the weakening of the judiciary, and to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, the Pakistan government installed metal barricades and spike-fitted barriers on the bridge. “Blocking the entire Islamabad by placing containers studded with nails, digging trenches across major routes, damaging the property of PTI workers, and abducting innocent children and their mothers—all out of political grudge,” said Karachi-based Uneza Kokab.
In 2024, the Pakistan government made use of lethal ammunition against thousands of PTI protesters, killing dozens of them in an assault through rubber bullets and tear gas. “Yet again, protestors in Pakistan have faced a brutal and lethal crackdown shrouded in a callous opacity by the authorities,” said Amnesty International. “Disturbing reports and testimonies regarding the unlawful use of force including lethal ammunition against protesters, during a government enforced communication blackout, are emerging.”
The same year, Pakistani security personnel opened fire on peaceful protesters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu city, killing at least three. The action was in violation of the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. Leaders from the region slammed Pakistani security forces and warned that such action would only aggravate the sense of deprivation, which may lead to chaos and civil war.
Even Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) termed “the state-sanctioned violation of citizens’ rights to life and right to freedom of peaceful assembly “reprehensible”. It added that the state’s action was a dangerous contempt for citizen-led calls for peace.
Who can forget what happened in the Kashmir region? The state of Pakistan tried to choke Kashmiris by disrupting their food supplies. The reason? The ordinary Kashmiris had demanded basic rights, a reduction in inflation and an end to privileges enjoyed by political elites. Over 50 Kashmiris were killed by Pakistani security forces, even as thousands were arrested, kidnapped and tortured. “The real terrorist is the government, which tries to suppress this peaceful voice through coercion and force,” said Zahid Amin, a local from Kashmir.
Kashmiri leader Shaukat Nawaz Mir called it “state terrorism”. Locals sought talks with the government sitting in Islamabad. However, their demands were met with a violent crackdown. “Talk with brotherhood. Sit down and have table talks. They are just asking for their own rights. For seventy years you have kept us subjugated. For seventy years you have been treating us unfairly,” said Mohammad Aziz from Kashmir region. HRCP expressed concerns over the lethal and excessive use of force against protesters.
Balochistan could be called as the most afflicted region in Pakistan when it comes to atrocities by the security forces of Pakistan. Frontier Corps personnel opened fired at Baloch people who were travelling to join a protest in 2024. Three were dead and 14 were injured. “Every time Baloch protests take place, their demands are met with violence by security forces and mass arrests. We see it now again with the Baloch Raji Machi protests in what is clearly a punitive attempt by the Pakistani authorities to deter, vilify and criminalize peaceful protesters,” said Babu Ram Pant, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International.
The same year, in the Miran Shah area of North Waziristan, Pakistani police were accused of firing randomly at an election party when some of them protested against the delays in the result countdown. Three people including an electoral candidate were left dead. There are gruesome incidences of activists being beaten to death or a pregnant woman being kicked for holding protests. Pakistani government’s response to dissent has often moved far beyond maintaining public order, and ended up assaulting, subjugating or killing protesters. That is why it did not care about people’s safety when it installed big spikes on the road.
