Opposition protests ‘state oppression’, fresh tweaks
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• Stages countrywide demonstrations, lashes out at 27th Amendment, cybercrime laws
• Leaders say changes shield the ‘powerful’, tighten establishment grip
• Brand govt ‘oppressors and usurpers’
• Describe immunity clause as un-Islamic, against local traditions
ISLAMABAD: The Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP), a coalition of several opposition parties including the PTI, staged protests across the country against the 27th Amendment and “state oppression”.
From Islamabad to Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi, protesters wearing black armbands chanted slogans for the “supremacy of the Constitution” and the release of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.
Speakers at several venues denounced the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments and recent changes to cybercrime laws, calling the moves an attempt to shield “powerful personalities” from accountability and tighten the establishment’s grip on power. They also slammed the alleged manhandling of Mr Khan’s sisters and lawmakers outside Adiala jail.
Authorities, meanwhile, responded with a heavy police presence and a wave of arrests, particularly in Sindh and Punjab, where opposition leaders claimed their protest campaign was being stifled through intimidation and detentions.
In Islamabad, the party organised a protest march outside the Faisal Mosque. Surrounded by police, the brief protest was led by Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Mehmood Khan Achakzai — nominated leader of the house in the National Assembly — Salman Akram Raja, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and other TTAP leaders.
Allama Abbas addressed the gathering and said their campaign was “for the people and the country”.
“We will continue our struggle against the state oppression,” he said, adding, “This government is a bunch of oppressors and usurpers.”
He said the recent constitutional amendments, changes to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) and other measures being taken in the country, particularly by the Punjab government, amounted to “tyranny against the citizens of this country”.
“We will never be bogged down and will continue peaceful countrywide agitation,” he said in a fiery speech.
Protesters included TTAP workers, supporters of allied parties and lawyers, but witnesses said the workers initially failed to energise the crowd as police surrounded the gathering. At that point, Allama Nasir Abbas took centre stage, raised slogans and helped organise the crowd to begin the march.
‘Lifetime immunity un-Islamic’
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the demonstrations were held on the directives of provincial PTI President MNA Junaid Akbar, following the TTAP’s decision. The protests were organised at the district level, where charged PTI workers chanted slogans against state institutions and held portraits of Imran Khan.
In Peshawar, dozens of PTI workers held their protest outside the city’s press club. It was addressed by Provincial Minister for Local Government Meena Khan Afridi, MNA Sher Ali Arbab and PTI Peshawar district President Irfan Saleem.
In his speech, Mr Afridi said their incarcerated leader, Imran Khan, had presented two options to the TTAP leadership. The first option, he said, was to hold negotiations with “the powers that be” to sort out all outstanding issues. If talks failed, the second option was a peaceful countrywide protest.
He said granting lifetime immunity to certain people through the 27th Amendment, which he claimed meant that those “imposed on the nation” could not be tried in any court, even if involved in corruption or killings, was unacceptable. He termed such immunity un-Islamic, unethical and against local traditions.
In his speech, Mr Saleem said their struggle for the supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law and human rights would continue until their goals were achieved.
In Swabi, PTI leaders said the incumbent federal government had been working for the establishment since coming to power through “a fraudulent election”.
The PTI leaders staged a protest on the Swabi-Jahangira Road at Tordher against the 27th Amendment, claiming it had been enacted to strengthen powerful personalities and the establishment’s grip on power instead of empowering common citizens.
In Mohmand’s Mian Mandi bazaar, PTI workers held a large protest, where speakers described the amendment as a direct assault on the Constitution, judicial independence and part of an “extension scheme”.
In Battagram, PTI held a protest on the Karakoram Highway. The demonstration, led by PTI Battagram chapter President Niaz Muhammad Khan Trand, featured protesters holding placards inscribed with slogans against the federal government.
Mr Trand said Pakistan was founded in the name of Islam and stressed that everyone should be held accountable for their actions. In Bajaur, scores of PTI workers and supporters attended a demonstration.
Sporadic rallies in Punjab
In Punjab, the PTI failed to make a significant impact on the first day of its protest drive, as rallies remained small and sporadic. Even its X (formerly Twitter) handle remained largely quiet for most of the day as the protests struggled to gain momentum.
PTI Chief Organiser Aliya Hamza, who had given the protest call, nevertheless termed the drive a success, given what she described as the scale of oppression.
“We issued a call for a three-tier protest: distribution of pamphlets outside mosques, wearing black bands and rallies. We had complete success in the first two steps, and partial success in the third because of massive oppression, especially in Lahore, where the city president (Usman Akram) was arrested,” she told Dawn.
In a post on X, PTI leader Hammad Azhar also claimed the arrest of Mr Akram, which was later confirmed by the police.
Ms Aliya’s protest invitation on X was in response to TTAP’s protest call for Friday. “All party ticket holders, right down to Union Council level, should wear black bands, hold pro-democracy and pro-judiciary placards and take out rallies in their areas,” read the message.
By evening, reports of small protests had started trickling in from different areas, but nothing major had been reported by late in the evening.
‘Amendment distorted Constitution’
In Karachi, PTI staged a protest in front of the Karachi Press Club (KPC). The party’s Sindh president, Haleem Adil Sheikh, Karachi President Raja Azhar, General Secretary Arsalan Khalid, Faheem Khan, representatives of the Women’s Wing, Insaf Youth Wing, Insaf Lawyers Forum, Labour Wing and other party cadres marched towards Regal Chowk, chanting slogans against the amendment and calling for the immediate release of the PTI founder.
Party leaders claimed more than two dozen workers were arrested during the demonstration.
Speaking at the protest, Mr Sheikh said the 27th Amendment had “distorted and damaged the very spirit of the Constitution” and claimed that it was forcibly imposed in violation of the public will.
“The so-called government formed through Form-47 has been manoeuvred into place only to secure personal interests,” he said, adding that both the 26th and 27th amendments were against the people’s interest and had been “outrightly rejected by the nation”.
Mr Sheikh said Imran Khan had been incarcerated for more than two years due to his struggle for “true freedom” and was allegedly facing fabricated cases. “The entire nation has a single demand: Imran Khan must be released immediately,” he said.
According to a party statement, protests were also staged in Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Sanghar, Sukkur, Larkana, Kandhkot, Ghotki and other towns, where workers stood outside local press clubs wearing black armbands and chanting slogans against the amendment.
In Mirpurkhas division, local PTI chapter chief Aftab Qureshi and more than two dozen workers were arrested, while dozens more were detained in Karachi and Hyderabad.
Kalbe Ali in Islamabad, Mohammad Ashfaq in Peshawar, Ahmad Fraz in Lahore and Imran Ayub in Karachi contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2025
