Pakistan outlaws Pashtun group as government seeks to stifle dissent

Pakistani authorities have unleashed a draconian crackdown on dissent, breaking up opposition protests with violence and mass arrests and banning a movement to promote the rights of the ethnic Pashtun community under terrorism laws.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen

Hundreds of riot police fired teargas and charged with batons as supporters of Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI), the party of the incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, gathered to protest over the weekend in the cities of Islamabad and Lahore.

Dozens of PTI figures, including prominent leaders and lawyers, were arrested and hundreds more were charged under terrorism laws.

Khan's supporters took to the streets to demand the release of their leader and to call for an independent judiciary. Khan, 72, has been held in jail since August 2023 on more than 100 charges of corruption and terrorism that he alleges are politically motivated. He was earlier sentenced to 10 years for leaking state secrets but the courts overturned the verdict.

The weekend's events marked a notable escalation of a crackdown on PTI that started before February's election, which was marred by allegations against the military establishment that it had rigged results to prevent PTI from taking power.