The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has said that it was ‘appalled’ at the police action of preventing a panel discussion on the forced deportation of Afghan refugees from taking place in Islamabad.

“The police reportedly disrupted the event and threatened to arrest the speakers, briefly detaining the venue manager,” the HRCP said in a post on X, erstwhile Twitter, on Tuesday.

The issue was discussed by many journalists and political experts on social media, as they condemned the incident.

The government has set November 1 deadline for Afghan refugees to leave the country, as part of the government’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.

“This was in clear violation of the panelists’ right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” it said, “such tactics are also an alarming indicator of the government’s unwillingness to acknowledge that it is bound by customary international law to protect vulnerable refugees.”

Former senator Afrasiab Khattak, who was one of the speakers, claimed that the police intervened to stop a civil society talk on the forced eviction of Afghan refugees in the Black Hole in the federal capital.

“This is unannounced martial law violating fundamental rights,” he said in a post.