Police briefly detain Aurat March leaders outside Karachi Press Club

• Several women leaders taken into custody.
• Detainees shifted to police station briefly.
• Detained activists released shortly after arrest.

KARACHI: Police briefly detained several Aurat March leaders, including activist and artist Sheema Kermani, outside the Karachi Press Club when they gathered for a press conference on Tuesday.

The organisers of the media talk said that the detained individuals included Kermani, transgender activist Shehzadi Rai, Muniza, and others. 

Several women leaders shifted to a police station were released shortly after, South Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manzoor Ali confirmed. 

Police presence around the Karachi Press Club was also increased following the incident.

Aurat March organisers maintained that the leaders had gathered solely for a press conference when the action was taken.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed concern over the detention of activists, saying that it “strongly condemns the arrest of several organisers and volunteers of Aurat March Karachi” outside the Karachi Press Club, where they were scheduled to hold a press conference.

In a statement released on X, the commission said the incident was not an isolated overreach but part of a “deeply troubling pattern” involving the denial of public space to citizens seeking to assert their rights. 

It emphasised that the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are constitutionally guaranteed, adding that preventing citizens — particularly women and marginalised groups — from even convening a press conference reflects an “increasingly repressive approach to governance,” where dissent is treated as a threat rather than a democratic necessity.