Pakistan Academics' Collective

As academics, activists and members of the civil society engaged with Pakistan’s history, politics, law, and society, we issue this urgent condemnation of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, passed in the Senate amid opposition boycotts and procedural opacity. This amendment threatens the democratic foundations of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution at a time when the nation faces converging crises including economic collapse, rising poverty and unemployment, an uptake in militancy and civilian casualties, and a complete breakdown of institutional checks and balances. 

Following the deeply flawed 2024 elections and the 26th Constitutional Amendment’s assault on judicial independence to impede independent investigations of the polls, the 27th Amendment completes the architecture of authoritarian rule. It proposes a separate Constitutional Court appointed by the Executive, reducing the Supreme Court, whose reason for existence was protection of fundamental rights of Pakistanis, to an appellate court. Already, the judiciary was under attack: independent minded judges from the Islamabad High Court had written a letter to the Chief Justice about threats to their families from intelligence officers which still remain unaddressed. By allowing High Court judges’ transfers without consent with the threat of losing their jobs, the 27th amendment provides formal measures to coerce the judiciary into executive submission. Elsewhere, the amendment formally recognises military dominance through amendments to Article 243 by creating a Chief of Defence Forces position while also providing immunity for life to senior military officers, as well as retention of privileges of rank and employment. While government ministers have boasted about the effectiveness of the “hybrid” system ever since the 2024 elections, this outsized expansion in military power will further reduce space for civilian governance, while also institutionally weakening the military chain of command, centralising power in the office of the Army Chief. 

This constitutional assault comes at a tenuous time for the 250 million people of Pakistan. The recent floods caused widespread destruction in communities already reeling from the devastating effects of the 2022 floods which left millions homeless. The World Bank recently noted that poverty had seen a sharp uptick due to economic shocks and lack of investment in human capital: more than 25% Pakistanis now face poverty, rising from 18% in 2022. Economic growth has stagnated despite steady increase in the population of young people entering the workforce, industry has slowed down, foreign investment remains truncated with many multinational companies leaving the Pakistani market. Further, the government’s failure to protect small-farmers and military takeover of farmlands has led to acute shortages of food and price inflation, again affecting the most marginalized communities. In this situation, further centralising of power will likely reduce prospects of investment in productive activities and kickstarting the economy which has sharply diverged from the paths taken by neighbouring India and Bangladesh. Most worryingly, record numbers of skilled Pakistanis are leaving the country: in 2024, Pakistan had the highest net emigration in the World. Though temporarily providing rents in the shape of remittances, the long-term consequences of this brain drain will be felt most acutely by future generations. 

Simultaneously, Pakistan faces a dramatic resurgence in militancy and insurgency, especially in KP and Balochistan. The state’s use of brute force in place of dialogue and civilian outreach has also seen the return of drone attacks in the border areas, with civilian casualties explained away as collateral damage. Responding to this, the inhuman exodus of millions of Afghan migrants, many of who were born in Pakistan, by the current government under the pretext of security lays bare the human costs of militarised governance. Moreover, the government’s belligerence in dealing with Afghanistan threatens to drag the region into wider conflict. Rather than developing a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy rooted in civilian intelligence and community engagement, the regime has prioritized its own entrenchment. 

We express solidarity with the people of Pakistan and demand a different path forward, one that rejects authoritarian consolidation and builds democratic institutions capable of addressing the nation’s crises. We do not need to underscore the importance of democratic legitimacy and accountability, Pakistan’s future depends on rejecting the authoritarian path embodied in the 27th Amendment. The nation needs transparent governance, an independent judiciary, civilian control of resources and security policy, and democratic institutions accountable to its people. We urge scholars, civil society, and legal minds throughout the world to unite in demanding a constitutional order that addresses the urgent crises citizens face.

If you would like to register your protest, please sign our open letter here. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScASULnKJD1Ty0nR4ODBvOlWe7TKweSnYeXX59BLMkcJp3CRg/viewform

 

…

Read More

Our solidarity with Women prisoners in Pakistan on the International Human Rights Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Children. We reiterate our support for innocent women, youth and children who have been in prison since May 2023 for exercising their democratic right to protest and to defend their civil liberties. 

 

 In solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, we the Pakistan Academics Collective, strongly condemn the genocidal violence being inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the state of Israel. We also want to register our protest against the atmosphere of intimidation and fear being facilitated across university campuses in the United States, against students and faculty expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and their cause. …

Read More

 

On Friday September 29, the Pakistan Academics Collective organized and hosted an academic panel discussion, titled, ‘Pakistan: Democracy without a Politics of the People’ at the New School for Social Research in New York.  

…

Read More

A Complaint about Women and Children Rights Violations in Pakistan

Note: This complaint was originally sent to the UN Special Rapporteurs in June 2023 and was updated in August 2023 with new information about the continuing atrocities against women and children in Pakistan. We will continue to update and archive the HR violations against women and children here. 

To:

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Ms. Mary Lawlor Via email: hrc-sr-defenders@un.org 

Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, its causes and consequences, Ms. Reem AlSalem; Via email: hrc-sr-vaw@un.org

Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Ms. Irene Khan; Via email: hrc-sr-freedex@un.org 

Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Mr. Nyaletsossi Clément Voule; Via email: hrc-sr-freeassembly@un.org

Special Rapporteur on Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, Ms. Alice Jill Edwards; Via email: hrc-sr-torture@un.org

Members of the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

 Via email: hrc-wg-discriminationwomen@un.org, hrc-wg-ad@un.org, hrc-wg-eid@un.org 

…

Read More

 

The Pakistan Academics’ Collective recently hosted an Oxford-NYU collaborative information session about ongoing  political violence, especially against women. The closed discussion was attended by many female scholars, women based in Pakistan, and activists from different global justice and women’s rights organizations such as Codepink, MADRE, and World Without War, among others. …

Read More

 

Please sign our letter here

As scholars and academics, we are alarmed by recent events in Pakistan. We condemn the state-sanctioned violence, murder and torture of protestors, use of sexual violence against women and men, curbs on media, bans on freedom of assembly and speech, and arbitrary arrests of thousands of political leaders and workers belonging to the main opposition party.

Following the ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s elected government in April 2022, the ruling establishment has unleashed a reign of terror in a desperate bid to hold on to power, and deny the people of Pakistan a say in their future. The current government—backed, kept in power, and operated by the military establishment—is refusing to hold elections as mandated by the Constitution and ordered by the Supreme Court. The regime enjoys no popular mandate to rule and is depriving people of their right to vote, while seeking to eliminate the largest opposition party from the political arena.

Meanwhile, the people of Pakistan are facing an unprecedented onslaught on their civil liberties. Most recently, in flagrant violation of international human rights conventions, the military has announced its intention to establish military courts for trying civilians who protest and register their political dissent in the public domain, bypassing due process of law. The government has also attacked the judiciary, and court orders to release political leaders arrested under fabricated charges have been ignored. This is all occurring at a time when people are facing dire living conditions: over the last year, unemployment has spiraled, the currency has lost 55% of its value, and inflation has tripled.

We, the undersigned concerned scholars, write this open letter to express our solidarity with the people of Pakistan, and denounce attempts to impose a brutal and violent tyranny upon the country. The suspension of the rule of law, the use of state terror against the population, and the collapse of constitutional order is only deepening the political, economic, and social crisis in Pakistan.  

Therefore we call upon the ruling establishment to:

1. Restore civil rights: It is vital to restore and uphold the fundamental rights and liberties of the people of Pakistan. This includes protecting freedom of expression, assembly, and association, as well as ensuring the right to a fair trial and due process for all individuals. We further contend that audiences within and outside Pakistan have a right to access accurate information about newsworthy events, and demand immediate cessation of state interference with, and curbs on, press freedom.
2. Release all political prisoners: We urge the regime to immediately release all political prisoners who have been detained without just cause or due process. The continued incarceration of individuals including journalists, lawyers, doctors, academics, and other civilians for exercising their constitutional rights violates international law and principles of justice.
3. Cease efforts to use military courts for civilians: Trial of civilians under military courts represents a gross violation of the Constitution and contravenes international law. Legal proceedings must be pursued under the existing judicial system, which must be allowed to function without coercion.
4. Investigate and prosecute officials who have violated and abused citizens: We demand independent and impartial investigations be carried out to hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations. These include murder, torture, and use of sexual violence against political activists, journalists, and innocent civilians. The perpetrators must be brought to justice and victims provided reparations.
5. Respect the democratic process, end military interference in politics, and hold elections immediately: The state should desist from banning or breaking up any political party and engage in introspection on the deep drivers of grievances and the absence of institutionalized mechanisms to channelize these grievances. In a country of 230 million people, with an increasingly young and urban population, there is a legitimate expectation that people should have the right to choose their leaders and government. The military’s continued interference in politics (courts, police, media, and political parties) consistently denies this right and public grievances are more likely to be directed at the Army. To avert imminent chaos, we demand that the ruling establishment must step back from this interference and hold timely, and free and fair elections, with all legitimate political forces allowed to contest.

          Please sign our letter here

 

PLEASE NOTE: All signatories are being uploaded manually by only a few volunteers. Please be patient with us while we continue to update the list.

We have almost 500 signatories currently, we will be updating this  information regularly. Some names have been withheld to ensure participants’ privacy and we especially applaud scholars based in Pakistan for their efforts.

Thank you all for the incredible support!

 

Signatories : 

Noam Chomsky – University of Arizona/ MIT

Jeffery Sachs – Columbia University

Farhat Haq – Monmouth College

John L. Esposito – Georgetown University

Richard Falk – Princeton University

Lawrence Hamilton – University of the Witwatersrand and Cambridge

Steven Friedman – University of Johannesburg

Riffat Hassan –  University of Louisville

Humeira Iqtidar – King’s College London

Masooda Bano – University of Oxford

Tamara Sonn – Georgetown University

Hamid Dabashi – Columbia University

Mahmood Mamdani – Columbia University

Joseph A. Massad – Columbia University

David Lelyveld – William Paterson University

Inaash Islam – Saint Michael’s College

Farah El-Sharif – Stanford University

Ali Anooshahr – University of California, Davis

Shabana Mir – American Islamic College

Zareena Grewal – Yale University

Dina M. Siddiqi – New York University

Mira Rastegar – New York University

Allan Aubrey Boesak – University of Pretoria

Yaseen Noorani – University of Arizona

Marthie Momberg – Nelson Mandela University

Hatem Bazian – UC Berkeley and Zaytuna College

Rula Jurdi – McGill University

Nader Hashemi – University of Denver

Patrick Bond – University of Johannesburg

Rasul Baksh Rais – Lahore University of Management Sciences

Katrina Daly Thompson – University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ashraf Adeel – Kutztown University

SherAli Tareen – Franklin and Marshal College

Mahan Mirza – University of Notre Dame

Hafsa Kanjwal – Lafayette College

Chandra Muzaffar – International Movement for a Just World

Mohja Kahf – University of Arkansas

Ovamir Anjum – University of Toledo

Medea Benjamin – Codepink

JM Kirby – MADRE

Kathy Kelly – World Beyond War

David Swanson – World Beyond War

Ulrich Duchrow – University of Heidelberg

Alparslan Açıkgenç – Uskudar University

Abdul Jabbar – City College of San Francisco

Zahra Sabri – Institute of Business Administration /Karachi

Robert Jensen – University of Texas at Austin

Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad – Minaret of Freedom Institute

Haider A. Bhuiyan – University of North Georgia

Mohammad Fadel – University of Toronto

Muhammad Iqbal – University of British Columbia

Shaireen Rasheed – Long Island University

Ume L Abbas – University of Missouri

Saqib Ahmad – University of Karachi

Alain Gabon – Virginia Wesleyan University

Javed Malik – University of Rochester

Nida Arif – University of Delhi

Saad Khan – HEC Montreal

Abdul Haque Chang – Institute of Business Administration, Karachi

Blain Auer – Université de Lausanne

Faisal Haq Shaheen – Toronto Metropolitan University

Zain R. Mian – University of Toronto

Jeff Cohen – Ithaca College

Stuart Rees – Sydney Peace Foundation

Naila Azhar – University of Connecticut

Usman Tohid – University of South Carolina

Maria-Magdalena Pruss – Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient

Ronald Pagnucco – College of St. Benedict

Alex Da Costa – University of Alberta

Robert Rozehnal – Lehigh University

Mohammad Waqas Sajjad – University of Management and Technology

Hasan Naqvi – University of Missouri/ Columbia

Zahida Malik – University of Southampton

Daniel Morgan – Santa Clara university

Gar Smith – Environmentalists Against War

Abdullah Ahsan – Istanbul Sehir University

Adnan Fateh – University of Central Punjab, Lahore

Rida Ashfaq – Lahore University of Management Sciences

Bizaa Zeynab Ali – New York University

David Swanson – RootsAction Education Fund

Osama Alsaleh – Harvard University

Ulrika Mårtensson – Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Junaid Israr – NUST Islamabad

Hassan Zaman – BZU Multan, Pakistan

Ali Syed – Charles Sturt University

Sohaib Ibrahim Khan – Occidental College

Peter Matthews Wright – Colorado College

Yaseen Baig – Ohio University

Kathy Kelly – World Beyond War

Alice Slater – World Beyond War

Tariq Malik – Brown University

James Redmond – University of North Texas

David Warren – Washington University in St Louis

Rev. Richard L. Hamm – Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada

Rev. Brian K. Muzas – Seton Hall University

Anusheh Yunus – UCL/ SOAS

Zahid Bukhari – Center for Islam and Public Policy (CIPP)

Hussam Badi – American University of Sharjah

Abdullah Tariq – University College of London

Javad Ahmed Raheel – Purdue University

Shiraz Ali – University of California, Berkeley

Syed Ismail – AS&M Hampton

Usman Khan – Imperial College London

Nadia Khan – University of Chicago

Hasham Azhar – University of Sydney

Naseem Aftab Khan – Ohio Wesleyan University

Syed Shaan-e-Ali Mehdi – University of Ottawa

Maham Ashfaq – American University

Nasim Basiri – International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences

Mehmood Irfan – RMIT University

Zainab Rao – University of Münster

Annia Mirza – University of Cambridge

Sabeena Shaikh – McGill University

Kashif Ali – Aalborg University Denmark

Marzia Raza – University of Heidelberg

Muhammad Khan – Dalhousie University

Muhammad Zia – University of St. Andrews

Noman Husainie – University of Toronto

Jamal Tariq – Boston University

Khan Muhammad Tariq – Hong Kong university

Syeda Beena Butool – Florida State University

Rana Hussain – NHS

Zaheer Uddin – Center for American Muslim Research and Information

Umar Farooq Ghumman – Northwestern University

Yasir Khan – Hanken School of Economics

Nabit Bajwa – George Mason University

Sam J Khan – New York University

Sauleha Kamal – University of York

Muhammad Asad Saleem – Florida International University

Dr Shariq Najeeb – University of Ottawa

Salwa Tareen – Boston University

Junaid Hassan – Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Khizzar Shaukat – Tufts University

Dr. Azhar Hussain – Everglades University

Bisam-Ul Haq – Cambridge University

Autumn Wibright – Brandeis University

Wardah Alkatiri – UNUSA Indonesia

Osama Alsaleh – Harvard University

Sadaf Latafat – University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Adil Zaman – University of Gujrat

Muhammad Shahzeb Ali – Ohio University

Nadim Muhammad – University of California

Anisa Yousuf – Brandeis University

Ume L Abbas – University of Missouri

Hassan Ijaz – Tufts University 

Hasan Naqvi- University of Missouri

 Javed Badshag – Islamia University Peshawar

Shanzae A. – Kings College London

Rai Mansoor Imtiaz Khan – University of York

Sabeen Ovichegan – Harvard University / University of Oxford

Sheikh Maaz – Iqra University

Altaf Qadir – University of Peshawar

Rabiea Javid – University of Leeds

Khadija Nadeem – Agha Khan University

Irfan Siddiqui – New York University

Safa Naseem – New York University

Jan Michiel Otto – Leiden University

Abdul Nadir -University of Arizona

Muhammed Junaid –  Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Syeda Haleema Hasan – Georgetown University

Muhammad Umair – Pace University, New York

Farrukh Hakeem – Shaw University

Syed Zaidi – Louisiana State University

Saira Hassan Khan – DePaul University

Gulmina Ayaz – Paderborn University

Navaid Khan – Binghampton University 

Areeba Fatima – Greenwich University

Meena Nadeem – University of Huddersfield

Azmat Zahara – University of Karachi

John Nicholson – University of London

Ihtesham Jadoon – COMSATS University Islamabad

Fareena Malhi – Lahore School of Economics

Mukhtiar Ghani – University of Peshawar

Maaz Ahmed – University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School

Azfar Shaikh – New York University

Imaan Hilaly – New York University

Danyal Saeed – University of Illinois, Chicago

Jovita Alvares – University of Illinois, Chicago

Whitney Bodman – Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Muhammad Ali – Lahore University of Management Sciences 

Zahra Khan – Columbia University

Farah Adeed – Boston University

Ifra Javed – Lahore School of Economics

Seema Khan – Deakin University

Qurat ul Ain Syed – Emory University

Muhammad Souman Elah – UCLA

Yahya Habib – Princeton University

May Zhexi Qiao – New York University

Moeed Pirzada – Global Village Space  

Julia Pastreich – Harvard University

Mariam Ahmad – Stiftung Mercator GmbH

Sarah Lodhi – Wageningen University, Netherlands

Salman Yousaf – University of Sharjah

Muhammad Rafey Jameel – Vlerick Business School

Riaz Rahaman- SUNY Stony Brook University

Ghulam M Awan – University of South Alabama

S. Hasan Naqvi – University of Missouri, Columbia

Amna Adnan – American University

Surrayya Najeeb – NHS 

Muhammad Arslan Shehzad – Northwestern University

Rafique Wassan – University of Sindh, Pakistan

Saad Obaid – Julius-Maximilians~Universität Würzburg

Sharmeen Ahmed – Austin Community College

Ilsa Abdul Razzak – University of Washington, Seattle

William E. Shepard – University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Rafiq Fris – IUASR Rotterdam

Mirza Aslam Beg – The Salaam Network Inc. (Louisville)

James Tompkins – University of Louisville

Douaa Moosvi – Sheridan College

Attabik Awan – Eindhoven University of Technology

Nabiha Asghar – University of Waterloo

Asad Khan – The University of Edinburgh

Ann Barrott Wicks –  University of Miami

Briana Barner – University of Maryland 

Muhammad Ghazi – Duke University

The Collective will be issuing a Statement of Solidarity shortly. Watch this space!

In solidarity with the protests in Pakistan, the Pakistan Forum @NYU organized a  virtual preliminary agenda-setting Solidarity Meeting on Friday May 19th to discuss possible ways in which we, as academics, can contribute towards a meaningful dialogue. We acknowledge that it is criminal to stay quiet at this critical time and we hope to be able to collectively issue a statement of solidarity with the struggle of people in Pakistan.