Pakistan government invites claims of undeclared martial law imposition

People in Pakistan have claimed that the military-backed government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif have imposed an undeclared martial law in the country.

This comes amid the ongoing political crisis in the country.  

The Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill 2024 got the assent of Presi­dent Asif Ali Zardari's the day a massive rally was held in Islamabad. The Sharif-led government first bought time from Imran Khan's party and then brought in a law to arrest and jail Opposition leaders. 

On September 8, tens of thousands of members of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) gathered on the outskirts of Islamabad to demand the immediate release of Khan from prison. They pushed past barricades and checkpoints to reach the heavily fortified capital.

However, the response from the government was swift and severe, and dozens of its leaders and supporters were arrested. The PTI claimed this was the doing of the all-powerful army establishment. Following the nationwide crackdown, Imran Khan's party said an "undeclared martial law" had been imposed.

And what enabled the severe crackdown after the Islamabad rally and added strength to the cries of authoritarianism from the PTI was the recent passage of legislation that granted Islamabad city officials greater authority to regulate and even ban public assemblies.

The term "martial law" refers to recurring periods of military rule that have shaped Pakistan's politics for decades in several ways. By calling it "undeclared," the PTI claims the Shahbaz Sharif-led PML-N government, supported by the People's Party and backed by the military, is responsible for Imran Khan's imprisonment and the PTI's ban.

The 'Islamabad jalsa' which was held on Sunday was organised to mark one year since Imran Khan’s imprisonment. Despite his party's derecognition, PTI supporters remained defiant, showing a massive display of strength outside Islamabad. 

Among those in attendance were high-ranking PTI leaders, who took turns demanding the unconditional release of 'Qaidi number 804,' Imran Khan, and calling for political change.

Tensions rose during the rally, with confrontations between the police and protestors, where the PTI claimed that the rally had been shelled by the police in the federal capital.

The situation escalated as PTI interim chairperson Gohar Khan, lawmakers Sher Afzal Khan Marwat and Shoaib Shaheen, and others were quickly arrested. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chief Minister and PTI leader, Ali Amin Gandapur also went missing for eight hours, and his phone was switched-off.

Proposed by members of Nawaz Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the law grants Islamabad city officials greater authority to regulate and even ban public assemblies.

The timing of the bill's passage had raised alarm, with the PTI accusing the government of rushing through Draconian law specifically to target the PTI rallies. PTI called the law that prescribes a punishment of up to three years or/and an unspecified fine to the members of an "unlawful assembly", a "tyranny of fake majority".