Islamabad, August 22, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Pakistan’s growing reliance on security measures to deal with political dissent is increasingly becoming a permanent feature of governance rather than a temporary response to individual crises, according to an analysis published in International Policy Digest.
Greek lawyer, writer and journalist Dimitra Staikou said the designation of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) as a terrorist organisation, the use of anti-terrorism laws against political actors and journalists, restrictions on civil society, communications blackouts and the suppression of protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) indicate a broader shift in which political dissent is increasingly being treated as a security issue.
“Officials may defend each measure as a proportionate answer to a discrete threat. Taken together, however, they point to a more consequential transformation,” Staikou wrote, arguing that security has increasingly become the state’s dominant claim to legitimacy amid militancy, economic instability, regional rivalry and weak civilian institutions.
She cautioned that expanding the definition of a threat could make it easier for authorities to portray protests, journalism and political organisation as dangers rather than essential elements of public life.
On June 5, Pakistan designated the JAAC as a terrorist organisation and invoked anti-terrorism legislation against the group, which had emerged as a major platform for raising social and political grievances in PoK. The move was followed by arrests, communications restrictions, curbs on public gatherings and the deployment of security forces.
The situation remained tense ahead of the July 27 legislative elections in PoK. Clashes between protesters and security forces resulted in deaths and injuries, while international organisations expressed concerns over the use of force, communications shutdowns and anti-terrorism laws in dealing with political dissent.
Staikou said such measures reflected a broader trend in which political, social and economic disputes are increasingly framed as matters of national survival.
“Once an issue enters that register, governments can claim a mandate for extraordinary measures, expanded executive power, and narrower space for dissent,” she wrote.
She warned that the normalisation of repression could be more consequential than individual instances of suppression, as emergency powers can gradually become embedded in state institutions, budgets and bureaucratic structures.
“Each new crisis then validates the machinery built to address the last one,” Staikou said, adding that the distinction between governing through law and governing through emergency could gradually become blurred.
She argued that Pakistan’s experience has implications beyond South Asia and raises wider questions about how states balance security, political authority and citizens’ freedoms.
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