What worries one however is the govt’s decision to use the state’s coercive machinery to block the PTI’s self-styled Azadi March. The government has gone even a step further to invoke the colonial-era Section 144 in Punjab and Sindh to disallow public gatherings. This can provoke PTI workers who have been told again and again that they are fighting a jihad, to undertake violent acts on a much larger scale than in 2014. Independent media has undergone unprecedented pressure and harassment under the PTI rule. Despite this it continues to support every political party’s right to peaceful protest while vigilantly watching if the rules of the game are being followed.

Source: Pakistan Today May 24, 2022 18:00 UTC