Concerns Mount Over Human Rights Amid Punjab’s Crackdown on TLP Protests

Human Rights Research Center
Oct 20
3 min read

October 20, 2025

HRRC strongly condemns the excessive use of force, mass detentions and communication blackouts during the Muridke operation, terming them grave violations of citizens’ constitutional rights. HRRC urges the government to ensure accountability, uphold due process and protect the fundamental right to peaceful protest.

Police officers and supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) run amid tear gas fired by police during a solidarity march for Gaza in Lahore, Pakistan. [Image credit: Reuters]

Following a week of violent clashes between Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) supporters, human rights groups have raised alarm over the government’s use of force, mass arrests, and communication blackouts in Punjab, calling it a potential violation of citizens’ rights to peaceful protest and due process.

In the early hours of Monday, October 13, police launched a pre-dawn operation in Muridke to dismantle a TLP protest camp along GT Road, triggering widespread chaos and confrontations that lasted nearly six hours. The operation, involving around 1,500 police personnel with armored vehicles and water cannons, left several people dead, including Police Inspector Shehzad Nawaz, and dozens injured. While police confirmed limited casualties, unverified reports circulating on social media alleged a significantly higher toll among TLP supporters, claims dismissed by authorities as “baseless rumors”.

Official sources described the protesters as “armed and violent mobs” who attacked officers with sticks, stones, and petrol bombs, prompting what police called a “limited defensive response.” The First Information Report (FIR) invoked multiple sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and the Pakistan Penal Code against TLP leaders and workers. Civil rights advocates, however, argue that branding political or religious protesters as terrorists without a transparent investigation risks criminalizing dissent and eroding civil liberties.

As the unrest spread to other cities, authorities imposed Section 144 across Punjab, suspended mobile internet, and sealed entry routes to major cities to prevent further mobilization. Rights groups criticized these restrictions as collective punishment and suppression of information. The Lahore High Court later sought replies from the Punjab government and police over petitions alleging extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and denial of medical aid to injured TLP workers. The party claimed over 600 of its supporters were killed and that its chief, Saad Rizvi, was abducted, a claim denied by officials.

In the aftermath, the Punjab government moved to formally ban the TLP, place its leadership under the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act, and initiate action against individuals accused of “spreading hatred” online under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). Human rights observers fear these sweeping measures could further constrict political freedoms and digital expression.

Although the province remained calm by Friday, with no major protests reported and 308 more TLP activists arrested, questions persist over accountability, the proportionality of force used and the treatment of detainees.

Legal experts and human rights defenders have urged transparency in ongoing investigations and called for adherence to Pakistan’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech, assembly and fair trial, warning that combining protest with terrorism risks deepening the cycle of violence and mistrust between citizens and the state.

Glossary

Abducted – Taken away by force or kidnapped.
Accountability – Being responsible for one’s actions and answerable for them.
Adherence – Following or sticking to a rule or belief.
Alleged – Said to have done something (but not proven).
Baseless – Without any proof or evidence.
Blackouts – When electricity, communication, or information is completely cut off.
Civil liberties – Basic personal freedoms and rights protected by law.
Collective Punishment – The imposition of a penalty or sanction on an entire group or community for the actions of one or a few of its members.
Condemns – Strongly disapproves or criticizes something.
Confrontations – Clashes or conflicts between groups or people.
Constitutional guarantees – Rights and freedoms protected by a country’s constitution.
Criminalizing – To make something illegal.
Detainees – People kept in custody or under arrest.
Dismantle – To pull something apart or pull it into pieces.
Dissent – Disagreement, especially against authority or government.
Due process – A fair legal procedure that protects individuals' rights.
Enforced displacements – Forcing people to leave their homes or areas.
Erode – Slowly weaken or destroy something.
Extrajudicial killings – Unlawful killings done without a court trial.
Law Enforcement Agencies – Government organizations responsible for making sure people follow the law.
Mobilization – the act of organizing or preparing something, such as a group of people, for a purpose.
Proportionality of force – Using only as much force as is necessary in a situation.
Sweeping measures – Broad or extreme actions affecting many people.

Sources

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Concerns Mount Over Human Rights Amid Punjab’s Crackdown on TLP Protests

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