London [UK], October 6 (ANI): Rights groups report that Pakistan’s transnational repression has intensified under Army Chief Asim Munir, who has consolidated absolute power. Over the past three years, the state’s coercive reach has extended far beyond Pakistan’s borders to target journalists, activists, and political opponents in the diaspora, the Daily Mirror reported.
According to Daily Mirror, Pakistani authorities now routinely operate in other countries to intimidate citizens, sending a clear message that criticism of the army—whether from Karachi or New York—will not be tolerated, and retribution may follow anywhere. Journalists have been among the most visible victims of this strategy.
In October 2022, senior television anchor Arshad Sharif, who fled sedition cases and military threats, was shot dead in Kenya. Despite Kenyan courts ruling his killing unlawful, justice remains elusive, and suspicions of Pakistani military involvement persist. Earlier this year, investigative reporter Ahmad Noorani published a report exposing Munir’s growing influence; within days, his brothers in Islamabad were abducted and a colleague in Balochistan disappeared. His YouTube channel was later blocked in Pakistan under a cybercrime investigation. These cases have been condemned internationally as examples of extraterritorial repression, showing that dissent abroad is no safer than dissent inside Pakistan.
Political workers, particularly those affiliated with former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have faced systematic campaigns against them since Khan’s ouster in 2022. Inside Pakistan, thousands of workers have been jailed or killed, party leaders coerced to abandon Khan, and women supporters tortured in custody. Abroad, PTI demonstrations outside Pakistani embassies in London, Toronto, and Washington in 2025 were met not only with local police pressure but also with surveillance by embassy staff and private actors linked to Pakistani intelligence. Protesters reported receiving threatening phone calls, while their relatives in Pakistan were questioned by security agencies.
In the UK, PTI supporters protesting outside Pakistan’s High Commission in London were photographed and profiled, with their images circulated on social media linked to pro-military networks. In Canada, activists reported that relatives back home were visited by intelligence officials warning them to “control” family members abroad. In the U.S., PTI rallies near Capitol Hill in mid-2025 prompted criticism from Pakistani officials, and reports emerged that embassy staff compiled lists of participants.
In early 2025, Pakistani courts accepted petitions seeking action against PTI’s overseas social media cells, accusing them of “inciting mutiny” through criticism of the army. Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, said such charges blur the line between peaceful political activity and terrorism. In Germany, Sindhi and Baloch activists reported similar harassment, with relatives summoned, threatened, and intimidated to silence dissent abroad.
These coercive actions aim to undermine the confidence of the Pakistani diaspora, a powerful voice amplifying Khan’s message internationally. During visits to Western capitals in 2024 and 2025, Munir openly denounced Imran Khan and labelled PTI supporters abroad as enemies of the state. In London, he called them “agents of chaos”; in Washington, D.C., he accused them of spreading “foreign-funded propaganda” against Pakistan. By branding political opponents as existential threats, Munir legitimizes state surveillance and legal harassment of citizens living abroad.
Human rights organizations have condemned Pakistan’s actions. The Committee to Protect Journalists described the cases of 2025 against exiled reporters as “a severe escalation in Pakistan’s crackdown.” The CIVICUS Monitor labelled Pakistan a “repressed” state, citing targeting of activists and party workers both inside the country and abroad. Amnesty International criticized the government for criminalizing PTI protests and diaspora activism, warning these moves violate Pakistan’s obligations under international human rights treaties. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan admitted in its annual report that the space for dissent has been deliberately constricted both domestically and internationally.
By turning embassies into tools of surveillance and intimidation, Pakistan risks alienating host governments already concerned with its human rights record. In the U.S., a congressional panel in July 2025 heard testimony on Pakistan’s repression of PTI supporters and journalists in exile, warning of sanctions if such practices continue. In the UK, MPs raised questions in Parliament about intimidation of protesters outside the High Commission in London. These developments suggest growing international consequences for Pakistan’s campaign of global censorship.
Under Army Chief Munir, Pakistan has normalized a policy of exporting fear—killing journalists, harassing political workers abroad, punishing families at home, and delivering threats with impunity. What began as censorship of domestic reporters has evolved into a system of transnational repression targeting entire political movements. Rights groups warn the future for Pakistan is bleak, as the military’s shadow extends everywhere, extinguishing the right to speak at home and abroad. (ANI)
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