DHAKA: Pakistani opposition parties are planning to challenge a sweeping new anti-terror law in court, politicians said on Tuesday, because they fear it will legalise human rights violations.

The Protection of Pakistan Bill was passed late on Monday amid protests from members of parliament and condemnation from international rights groups such as Amnesty International.

The law grants sweeping powers of arrest and detention to Pakistan’s already powerful security forces.

‘This law will turn Pakistan into a police state,’ Shah Mehmood Qureshi, vice chairman of the Tehreek-i-Insaf party, told a news conference, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 2101 HRS, APR 08, 2014