THE Sindh government’s treatment of the Aurat March this week was a disgraceful assault on democratic rights. What unfolded outside the Karachi Press Club cannot be termed law enforcement. It was the suppression of peaceful civic activity. For the eighth year running, Aurat March organisers have found themselves trapped in a cycle of delays and intimidation surrounding the issuance of an NOC for their annual event. Just days before the scheduled march, the authorities still had not granted permission. Then came the spectacle of activists — including veteran classical dancer Sheema Kermani — being dragged into police vans for attempting to hold a press conference. A mere press conference. The government must answer the simple question: under what law is it illegal to speak to the media inside a press club? Even under Section 144 restrictions, holding a press conference within the Karachi Press Club does not constitute unlawful assembly. Yet the police impeded access, detained activists — later released — and reportedly manhandled women demanding nothing more radical than constitutional rights.

Suspending police officials changes little and hardly counts as a deterrent. There is a visible pattern whenever Aurat March attempts to occupy public space. NOCs are delayed until the last moment, confusion is manufactured, and organisers are made to feel as though constitutional freedoms require state permission. This is especially shameful for a ruling party that endlessly invokes its progressive credentials and the democratic legacy of Benazir Bhutto. Sindh cannot celebrate women in politics in speeches while suppressing women on the streets. Nor can democratic claims coexist with the intimidation of peaceful citizens demanding constitutional freedoms. The right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are constitutional guarantees. If the state now views even a women-led press conference as something to be feared, what does that say about the shrinking space for dissent in Pakistan’s democracy?

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2026