Spikes to bullets: Pakistan’s brutal crackdown on dissent comes under growing scrutiny

IANS | October 3, 2026 9:05 PM

Male, Oct 3 (IANS) Pakistan government’s response to dissent has repeatedly gone far beyond maintaining public order, with protesters being assaulted, subjected to violence, and in some cases killed. The installation of large spikes on roads to prevent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from protesting further underscored the authorities’ disregard for protesters’ safety, a report has stated.

J&K’s cultural opening, PoJK’s rights abuses expose stark LoC divide: Report

IANS | October 3, 2026 8:42 PM

New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) While the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) drew international attention for its growing cultural and cinematic outreach, a starkly different picture emerged from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) over the last week of September, with activists at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva raising concerns over human rights abuses by Pakistani authorities in PoJK, a report has stated.

Pakistan’s political repression turns women into targets of control

IANS | October 3, 2026 8:31 PM

Islamabad, Oct 3 (IANS) Pakistan’s repression of women is not merely misogyny — it is a weapon of political control, with women targeted because they have become vital to movements the state has tried to crush. In such an environment, demanding the release of a political prisoner can itself be enough to land a woman behind bars, a report has stated.