TTAP chief questions Pakistan’s Islamic credentials amid police brutality allegations
TTAP Deputy Chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas addresses the media along with alliance chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai after arriving in Lahore on Thursday, January 8, 2026.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai, head of Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain Pakistan (TTAP), sharply criticized the state’s conduct and said that while Pakistan was described as a “fortress of Islam”, Islam itself seemed to have been imprisoned within it. In his speech at the Aiwan-e-Adl meeting in Lahore on Friday, he condemned violence against women and children and denounced the use of live ammunition against protesters at D-Chowk.
He also rebuked police actions, alleging mistreatment of detainees, and questioned claims that Pakistan is an Islamic state in such circumstances.
Talking about political unity, Achakzai says he has not come to Lahore to abuse other political parties but to support the downtrodden. He claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) enjoyed unprecedented public support but its founding leader remains behind bars due to lack of discipline within the party. Political movements required organization and discipline to be successful.
Referring to the recent protests, he noted that despite the presence of ENM and AMP, no loudspeakers were used, highlighting organizational weaknesses.
Addressing young people, he called for the roads to remain empty on February 8 as a form of peaceful protest, stressing that his movement would remain non-violent and free of abuse or hate speech.
Addressing the gathering, Allama Raja Nasir said that Allah had granted human beings the right to freedom, which was also guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan, but an oppressive regime had undermined the justice system, people’s right to defense and public mandate through constitutional amendments.
He urged the public to oppose those who took away freedom and the right to vote, stressing that “Hussainiyat” was not a slogan but a principled stand against oppression, adding that the country could not survive without protecting the rights of the people.
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Achakzai called on the authorities to recognize their mistakes and urged them to step forward to protect the Constitution. Addressing the community of lawyers at Aiwan-e-Adl, Achakzai warned that anyone who violated or opposed the Constitution deserved to be shunned, and declared that every individual who acts against it is what he called “murda baad”.
He concluded by saying that while institutions such as the military and intelligence agencies were necessary, they must remain within constitutional limits, and warned that any violation of the Constitution would be openly rejected.
He also announced his support for Irfan Hayat Bajwa, presidential candidate of the Hamid Khan group, in the Lahore Bar elections scheduled for January 10.
