Most of you may not like what I am about to say. That, however, makes little difference.

Those who have been reading me for years know that I have repeatedly argued that the freedoms of speech, expression, assembly, and protest were being misused in Pakistan to such an extent that the situation could not continue indefinitely. In fact, these freedoms were not merely being misused; they were being weaponised. This was never simply a Pakistani issue. No state in the world can indefinitely tolerate the kind of chaos that emerges when constitutional freedoms are turned into instruments of disruption.

We have all witnessed what became of freedom of expression in Pakistan. Anyone who disagreed was subjected to relentless abuse. Critics, opponents, judges, state institutions, national figures, and even the country’s martyrs were dragged into campaigns of ridicule and humiliation. Public discourse ceased to be a contest of ideas and increasingly became an exercise in character assassination.

The same happened with the right to protest. Under the banner of democratic freedoms, the country was pushed into a cycle of perpetual agitation. One day a march on Islamabad, the next day another mobilisation somewhere else. Roads blocked, cities paralysed, daily life disrupted, businesses affected, and economic activity brought to a standstill. What was presented as democratic activism often resembled a strategy of exhausting the state and society alike.

No political party exploited these freedoms more aggressively than Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf. Constitutional rights were stretched to their limits and then converted into political weapons. Abusive rhetoric, social media intimidation, confrontation, provocation, and disorder became central features of political mobilisation. This was the logical culmination of a politics driven by outrage.

Such a model was never sustainable.

Societies can absorb periods of tension. Nations can endure moments of political upheaval. What they........

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