New Pakistan law triggers claims of undeclared martial law

Pakistan is witnessing a political crisis, and people are claiming that an undeclared martial law has been imposed in the country. A military-backed government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif first bought time from Imran Khan's party and then brought in a law to arrest and jail Opposition leaders. The law, in fact, got a presidential assent on the day that a massive rally was held in Islamabad.

Tens of thousands of members of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) gathered on the outskirts of Islamabad on September 8, pushing past barricades and checkpoints to reach the heavily fortified capital, demanding the immediate release of their Kaptaan from prison.

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.

ISLAMABAD JALSA AND CRACKDOWN ON PTI

The awaited and postponed Sunday's Islamabad jalsa 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.

"We have one message for the Pakhtuns, that we will go to Punjab within a week, and Ali Ami Gandapur will tell you the date. These people, who erected the containers, whose police charged you with batons, I want them to hear [that] we are coming to Lahore," PTI's firebrand Sher Afzal Khan Marwat said at the Islamabad jalsa.

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 dramatically in the hours and days following the jalsa, with authorities initiating a widespread crackdown against party leaders of Imran Khan. 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, who made a fiery speech at the jalsa, also went missing for eight hours, and his phone was switched-off.

"If the founder of the PTI is not legally released within one to two weeks, we will have him freed ourselves," the KP CM said during Sunday jalsa, in his typical style.

Six MPs from Imran Khan's party were among more than 30 people remanded in custody on Tuesday, September 10 under a new law restricting protests, reported news agency AFP.

The crackdown on the jalsa, disappearances and sudden arrest of several PTI leaders and members, prompted the party to declare that an "undeclared martial law" was now in effect.

All PTI handles on X, after the crackdown, carried the hashtag #UndeclaredMartialLaw, in their posts.

"Seems like chaos and desperation in Rawalpindi’s power corridors after Imran Khan’s power show in Islamabad yesterday, despite every effort by the regime to thwart the rally. This is an #UndeclaredMartialLaw," posted the PTI handle on X, on Monday.

HOW A NEW LEGISLATION WAS RUSHED IN TO CURB DISSENT

Further fuelling the allegations of authoritarianism was the recent introduction and haste passage of the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill 2024, which received Presi­dent Asif Ali Zardari's assent within hours on Sunday, the day of the Islamabad jalsa.

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".

The earlier postponements of the Islamabad jalsa and the subsequent crackdowns on PTI leaders, in light of the new legislation was a calculated step by the federal government of Pakistan, according to Pakistan observer Faran Jeffery, the deputy director at ITC, a think-tank countering the narratives of Islamic terrorism and radicalisation.

"The government took the last few weeks to quietly introduce new legislation specifically regarding large gatherings in Islamabad. That legislation carried 3–10 years in prison for anyone who violates the SOPs. This was the main reason behind the government convincing PTI to delay its rally until the first week of September. The government needed just enough time to introduce this legislature. The PTI essentially walked into the government's trap," Jeffery wrote on X.

"PTI members violated those SOPs during Sunday's rally. In fact, they violated multiple SOPs. Moreover, threats were made in speeches during the rally. The Chief Minister of KP province said he and his loyalists will break out Imran Khan from jail in few weeks. Hence, the large scale arrests we saw last night in Islamabad," Pakistan observer Faran Jeffery wrote on X.

Opposition lawmakers denounced the legislation as a "PTI-specific law", accusing it of being a malicious attempt to thwart the party's planned power show in Islamabad on September 8, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.

Although the PTI's cry of "undeclared martial law" has grown louder this time, the government and establishment remain firm, tightening their grip with new laws that leave little room for dissent, at least in Islamabad. Meanwhile, PTI's next destination seems to be Lahore, or perhaps Rawalpindi jail, where its Qaidi Number 804, Imran Khan, is imprisoned.

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