Police on Tuesday released seven Aurat March activists after briefly detaining them near Karachi Press Club (KPC), following orders from Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar.

The activists were detained after they gathered at Karachi Press Club (KPC) for a press conference scheduled for 4pm to demand a no-objection certificate (NOC) for their upcoming annual march in Karachi.

An Aurat March organiser confirmed to Dawn that seven people, including Sheema Kirmani and Shahzadi Rai, had been released. This came shortly after Lanjar ordered the metropolis’ south zone police to release the detained activists.

In a post on X following the release, Aurat March Karachi said: “We will NOT back down from our politics, and we will continue to demand an NOC!

“Scare tactics to suppress dissent are shameful!” it said, demanding that the Sindh government issue a statement explaining the reason for the arrests and for the “delay” in granting the NOC.

Shortly before 4pm, the rights group said three of its organisers were “picked up” from KPC before they could even begin the press conference. In another post, it claimed that access to the press club had been blocked.

In a subsequent post, Aurat March Karachi said “seven organisers and volunteers have been arrested to stop them from reaching KPC!”

“The state is using all its tools to suppress a women’s movement that works on cross-class issues of gender, violence and labour rights!” it added.

“Booking a room and having a press conference within the walled confines of the press club is allowed even during Section 144!” Aurat March Karachi pointed out.

It sought to know what law the “peaceful activists” were held under, as they were not protesting.

This year’s Aurat March in Karachi is planned to be held at Sea View on Mother’s Day (May 10), which is observed on the second Sunday of every May.

On Sunday, the organisers said they had sent a letter to PPP’s Aseefa Bhutto Zardari “after receiving no positive response from the authorities” on their request for an NOC.

‘Systematic denial of public space’

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and other activists strongly condemned the detentions of Aurat March activists.

The HRCP noted that the incident was not an “isolated overreach but rather part of a broader and deeply troubling pattern: the systematic denial of public space to citizens seeking to articulate their rights”.

This echoed the HRCP’s findings from its annual report for 2025, which noted that reports of intimidation and restrictions on movement contributed to a climate of fear and self-censorship, limiting public discourse and obscuring human rights violations.

On today’s detentions, the HRCP highlighted that the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression were constitutionally guaranteed.

“Preventing citizens, particularly women and marginalised groups, from even convening a press conference reflects an increasingly repressive approach to governance, where dissent is treated as a threat rather than a democratic necessity,” it stated.

Digital rights activist Nighat Dad said, “Sindh Government — this is on you.”

Tagging the ruling PPP’s X account, she said, “You cannot claim to be progressive while silencing women on the streets.”

Echoing Aurat March Karachi’s stance, lawyer and rights activist Jibran Nasir asked how Section 144 of the PPC “prohibits access to KPC” and under what law “press conferences have been banned”.