ISLAMABAD: The Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP), an alliance of opposition parties, on Thursday called for an end to what it described as a hybrid power structure – draped in democratic language, but increasingly governed by the establishment.
With the district administration sealing the initially announced venue, TTAP participants shifted gears and held the APC at the residence of Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.
The gathering, a melting pot of opposition leaders, civil society members, lawyers, journalists, and activists from all walks of life, unanimously condemned the ongoing wave of convictions against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers. The alliance slammed the anti-terrorism courts’ rulings as “politically motivated vendettas” and “flimsy legal pretences.”
As news broke mid-moot of fresh sentences handed to opposition leaders in both the National Assembly and Senate, the mood turned grim. Participants said this would go down as one of Pakistan’s darkest political chapters.
“There is no law left in the country. Injustice reigns,” thundered Allama Raja Nasir Abbas of Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen, capturing the gathering’s fury.
Hamid Raza of Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), recently convicted himself, remarked bitterly, “Our fight against terrorism and extremism has been rewarded with a decade-long jail sentence.”
Veteran nationalist Mahmood Khan Achakzai didn’t mince words either, warning of a “creeping civilian dictatorship” masquerading as democracy.
“During military martial law, courts had courage. Today, under a civilian façade, shameful rulings dominate,” he said to nods of grim agreement.
Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser slammed the court verdicts as “illegal” and linked them to the controversial 26th Constitutional Amendment, which he said strips political workers of their fundamental rights.
Echoing this sentiment, Lashkari Raisani called for a moment of reckoning: “Will we continue to be spectators in a dummy parliament, or confront this crisis head-on beyond its walls.”
The spotlight was not only on current abuses. Veteran journalist Hamid Mir invoked the 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PICA), enacted by the PML-N government.
Originally framed to combat fake news, Mir explained how the law morphed into a tool to muzzle media, even those who passed it.
Political dissident Javed Hashmi condemned the denial of PTI’s electoral symbol in recent polls, emphasizing, “Even without a symbol, people voted for Imran Khan. Now they want to keep him in jail as a spectacle.”
“Back when Imran Khan was in power, opposition rallies were held without fear or formalities,” recalled former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair. “We never asked for permission, and the police never blocked our path. Look at us now – this is not democracy, it is a lockdown.”
Despite their ideological differences, the APC vowed to unite in restoring democratic norms, pushing for judicial independence, and ending selective, politically motivated accountability.
“Authoritarianism must die. Democracy will live,” declared Achakzai to rousing applause.
The conference closed with a resolute call to uphold the rule of law, enforce the supremacy of the Constitution, and dismantle the “ongoing de facto martial law” suffocating the country’s democratic fabric.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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