Police Harassment and Arrests Attempt to Disrupt “Conference of Democratic Forces” at Karachi Press Club

Karachi | 3 February 2026

A “Conference of Democratic Forces,” organized by the Popular Left Alliance (PLA) was held at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Monday amid heavy police presence, harassment and targeted arrests aimed at disrupting the event. The conference was convened to defend democratic political culture and oppose growing undemocratic interference in politics by the ruling military establishment, as well as anti-people policies and projects. 

The conference was organized under the convenorship of the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP), which currently holds the position of convenor of the Popular Left Alliance. 

From the very beginning, authorities attempted to sabotage the program. Despite the venue being officially booked in advance at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) Building, the organizers were suddenly informed through the KPC administration that the booking had been cancelled. Organizers strongly resisted this arbitrary move and after prolonged pressure and struggle the Press Club was compelled to restore the booking, allowing the conference to proceed. 

Soon after the program began, a large contingent of police surrounded the Karachi Press Club, positioning themselves at all three sides of the building and sealing both main gates. This heavy deployment was clearly intended to intimidate participants and disrupt the democratic gathering. 

During the conference, CPP Karachi Committee member Comrade Hussain Fatimi stepped outside the Press Club to receive senior comrades from another participating political party. At that moment police arrested Comrade Hussain Fatimi. When senior comrades attempted to resist his illegal arrest the police hurriedly detained three more senior political activists and took them to nearby police station. All senior detained comrades aged between 65 and 70 years. One of the arrested comrades was physically frail and unable to walk without assistance. 

Inside the Press Club, organizers received information that police were making arrests outside. Despite this, the conference continued and police remained stationed outside throughout the event. As later the participants from other political parties began to leave the venue without any interference it became clear that the police operation was specifically targeting the Communist Party of Pakistan. CPP comrades remained inside the Press Club building while police continued interrogating Comrade Hussain Fatimi about the whereabouts of CPP Secretary General Comrade Imdad Qazi, who was presiding over the conference. Police also questioned him about the content of the Secretary General’s speech, which Comrade Hussain Fatimi refused to disclose despite hours of pressure. 

Later that night, upon Comrade Fatimi's release due to severe political pressure, he returned to the Press Club and informed comrades that police had explicitly stated their intention to arrest the CPP Secretary General, claiming they had “orders from high above.” Following this revelation, most comrades left the venue, while two comrades stayed behind with the Secretary General. Eventually, Comrade Imdad Qazi was safely moved out of the Press Club by keeping a low profile and disguising himself as a journalist to avoid arrest. 

The Popular Left Alliance is a coalition of left and progressive political parties formed in 2022 through the initiative and struggle of the Communist Party of Pakistan. Since its formation and under CPP’s convenorship, the PLA has been at the forefront of resistance against undemocratic actions, policies and projects. These include opposition to corporate farming, anti-people constitutional amendments and laws, enforced disappearances, new canal projects, water scarcity, unemployment, attacks on workers and government employees’ strikes, political instability and polarization, weakening of the rule of law and judicial independence, and increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and the press. 

In Pakistan, growing military influence and the civil-military imbalance have been systematically used to silence dissenting voices. The attempted arrests at the Karachi Press Club reflect this broader pattern of repression. Such illegal arrests have often resulted in enforced disappearances, a practice with a long and brutal history in the country. 

The Popular Left Alliance and the Communist Party of Pakistan categorically reject politics of fear and intimidation. The struggle for democratic and workers rights in Pakistan has always come at a heavy cost. Comrade Hassan Nasir and Comrade Nazir Abbasi the CC members of CPP and hundreds of other political workers were tortured and killed in custody simply for demanding democratic rights. This history makes it clear that repression will not silence the democratic movement. 

The Popular Left Alliance reaffirmed that it will continue its struggle against authoritarianism, military interference and all anti-people policies, and will not retreat in the face of threats, arrests or intimidation. 

The conference concluded with the adoption of several resolutions addressing the current political situation, which are presented below.

* Participants of the Conference of Democratic Forces strongly condemned U.S. imperialist aggression against Venezuela and preparations for another act of aggression against Iran. They demanded the government to take a clear stand against this open aggression. 

* Serious concern is expressed over the situation in Balochistan. State institutions are held responsible for the conditions that have emerged and it is demanded that the issue be resolved through political and democratic means and in accordance with the wishes of the people of Balochistan. 

* To empower democratic institutions in Pakistan, the military’s interference in politics and state affairs must be completely ended. 

* Pakistan should be declared a multinational state. All national units must be given equal status, full control over their resources and their right to self-governance must be recognized. 

* The federation should retain only those powers that are agreed upon by a two-thirds majority of the elected assemblies of the federating units. In other words, instead of the mechanicism where powers are delegated from the federation to the provinces, the mechanism of delegating powers from the provinces to the federation must be adopted. All attempts to divide national units and create new provinces on administrative grounds must be stopped. 

* The federation should be established on secular foundations, ensuring equal status, equal rights and equal protection for all citizens. 

* All changes made to the Constitution in the last five years especially the PECA laws, the 26th and 27th Constitutional Amendments, the Mining and Minerals Act, Green Tourism, SIFC and all institutions formed under it, as well as all decisions taken and projects initiated under these frameworks, must be revoked. 

* Notifications allocating millions of acres of land across the country for corporate farming projects must be withdrawn and all such land should be distributed among local landless peasants. 

* The practice of abducting, forcibly disappearing and arbitrarily arresting citizens must be ended. All forcibly disappeared persons must be produced and security must be ensured for all citizens. 

* The Fourth Schedule, death squads and the CTD must be abolished. 

* All arrested and convicted political prisoners, employees, workers and teachers across the country, including Iman Mazari, Hadi Chittha, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, Ali Wazir, Idriss Khattak, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, as well as Shakir karakorami and Nusrat Hussain from Gilgit-Baltistan, journalist Sohrab Barakat from Kashmir and others must be released. False cases against Salar Fayaz Ali, Shabbir Mayar and others must be withdrawn. 

* Through land reforms, surplus land and all state-owned land must be distributed among local landless peasants. 

* To eliminate inflation and unemployment, administrative expenditures, especially the budget allocated for bureaucracy must be reduced by 50 percent and budgets for education and health must be increased. Discretionary funds of state leaders must be abolished. Prices of electricity, gas, petroleum products and all sources of energy must be reduced by at least 50 percent. 

* The process of privatization and outsourcing must be completely ended and all privatized institutions must be brought back under public control and run by national experts, experienced employees and local workforce. 

* Student unions must be restored and elections must be held in all industrial institutions, including public utilities, to ensure representative participation of employees and workers. 

* Wages of workers and employees must be increased in proportion to inflation. 

* All provincial governments must be bound to hold local government and municipal elections and ensure the transfer of financial powers to the grassroots level. 

* To save agriculture from destruction, supporting prices must be guaranteed and subsidies on food must be provided to control inflation. 

* The Conference expressed solidarity with all families affected in the recent Gul Plaza incident and with the families of those who lost their lives in such accidents in other cities. It demanded strict punishment for those responsible for these tragic incidents and called on the government to ensure all necessary safety measures to prevent such occurrences in the future. 

* At the conclusion of the conference, participants expressed serious concern over state pressure tactics on press clubs nationwide and called for an immediate end to such harassment.

With our fraternal greetings,

The Communist Party of Pakistan
Central Secretariat: D-168, Naseem Nagar Phase-III, Hyderabad, Sindh. 
Phone: +92-22-2670231, Fax: +92-22-2670231,
Mob/WhatsApp: +923332714014, +306948158100,   
E-Mail: cppk1948@gmail.com,
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CPPK1948
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cppk1948 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057030896965     
Web: www.cpp.org.pk, http://www.communistpartypakistan.com