Supreme Court Issues Rare Rebuke To Military, Intel Services

Pakistan's supreme court has instructed the country's military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to cease engaging in political activities and operate within their mandate, reports the Dawn (Pakistan).

The directive from the two-justice bench was issued on Wednesday as part of a ruling on the 2017 Faizabad sit-in by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and other smaller groups. The violence that resulted from the sit-in led to six deaths and hundreds of injured.

During the 20-day protest, demonstrators blocked the Faizabad Interchange, which connects Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The court ruled that the Pakistani constitution forbids armed forces personnel -- including Inter-Services Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau, military intelligence and the Inter-Services Public Relations -- from engaging in political activity.

Further, the court wrote that members of these institutions cannot curtail freedom of speech and expression and do not have the authority to interfere with the distribution of various news media. 

The government must prosecute those personnel found to have violated their oaths, the court said.

The court also ordered the government to act against those proclaiming "hatred, extremism and terrorism," reported the Press Trust of India.

It also declared religious edicts known as fatwas that are intended to harm others to be illegal.