Pakistani State Of Emergency, 2007

A state of emergency was declared by President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf on 3 November 2007 which lasted until 15 December 2007, during which the constitution of Pakistan was suspended. When the state of emergency was declared, Musharraf controversially held both positions of President and Chief of Army Staff. He later resigned as army chief 25 days into the emergency on 28 November. The state of emergency and its responses are generally attributed to the controversies surrounding the re-election of Musharraf during the presidential election on 6 October 2007, including his holding of both offices of President and Chief of Army Staff at the time.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry reacted promptly to the emergency declaration, convening a seven-member bench which issued an interim order against this action. He also directed the armed forces of Pakistan not to obey any illegal orders. Subsequently, the 111th Brigade of the Pakistan Army entered the Supreme Court of Pakistan Building and removed Chaudhry and several other judges from the premises and arrested them.

It was announced early that the state of emergency would likely end in late November or early December 2007. After being sworn in for a second presidential term on 29 November 2007, Musharraf immediately declared that the state of emergency would end on 16 December 2007, although the emergency actually ended one day earlier, on 15 December 2007, with an announcement by Musharraf.

The general election previously scheduled to occur in early January 2008 was postponed. At the beginning of the emergency, Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan: On 3 November 2007, BBC opened debate on the Emergency and more than 10,000 comments were received, many against emergency rul
BBC

*By the end of 5 November 2007 over 3,500 people had been arrested. Most of these were lawyers, civil rights leaders and members of the political parties. But almost all of them were soon released and by the time the emergency ended, all arrested had been released. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour also reported that a Pakistani UN official, Asma Jahangir, was among the judicial and political officials detained. The vast majority of the detained were released within a two-week period and the remainder released in the following days.
*On 14 November 2007, former cricketer and Opposition Leader Imran Khan (who was elected Prime Minister 11 years later) arrived at Punjab University to take part in a protest with the students. However, Imran Khan's presence enraged some students, who felt he was attempting to take credit for their efforts and also because the students had previously made it clear that politicians were not welcome in their protests. As a result, some students of youth organisation Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, a part of the Jamaat-e-Islami party manhandled Imran Khan soon after his arrival, locked him up in the University for around two hours, and later handed him over to the local police. The police arrested him and sent him to the Dera Ghazi Khan jail in Punjab province where he spent a few days before being released.
* While some Pakistani expatriates called 3 November 2007 a Black Day in the History of Pakistan, when General Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan, other expatriate Pakistanis supported Musharraf's decision to impose a brief emergency rule in Pakistan and held pro-Musharraf rallies in London, Toronto, Brussels, and other Western cities.

Ban on media

With the imposition of emergency a media blackout followed. National channels like ARY One World, GEO TV, Aaj News, and other channels were also blocked. General Musharraf maintained that these channels were creating discord, misrepresenting facts, were not responsible, and were contributing to the instability of the nation. The Government also cracked down on international channels like BBC
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