Space for dissent ‘shrinking’

Rights groups concerned by the use of arrest to stifle free speech in Pakistan, writes Shrouq Tariq

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Mavra Bari had intended to take part in a march for International Women’s Day in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, but spent it in a cramped prison cell.

What was meant to be a celebration was instead a terrifying 12-hour ordeal in a suffocating space, with a broken toilet and the smell of damp concrete and sweat.

Over 30 others — women, men and children — were also held.

“We were in a horrible prison,’ said Bari, a 36-year-old sociologist and activist. “We were beaten.”

An AFP journalist saw detainees when they were released. All looked shaken from the experience and some had signs of ill-treatment such as bruises and swelling.

Outside the police station, one man said tearfully: “My daughter came here just to observe the march... She did nothing wrong.”

On the face of it, the Women’s Day march, like those elsewhere in the world, should have posed little concern for the authorities in Islamabad or the powerful military.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself posted on X on March 8 that women's empowerment was “central to our government's vision for Pakistan’s development”.

“Today, we celebrate their strength, resilience, leadership, and the invaluable contributions they make to our families, our communities, and our nation,’ he wrote.