"All groups must have freedom to put their views before the people," he added.
He said that harassment and arrest of the leaders of opposition parties and other anti-government groups must not be used as a tool to prevent protest, as done in the past.
"Repeated use of section 144 and the MPO to curb the political protests must be avoided and religious gatherings during Muharram and on similar occasions must not be curbed on the grounds of preventing sectarian violence," Rehman said.
This could best be controlled by enacting relevant laws against those, who incited hatred or resorted to violence, he added.
"Such restrictions leave no channels for people to draw attention of the authorities towards their concerns, thus aggravating the problems that already exist in the society," he stated.
Talking about the prevailing political situation in the country, particularly the joint protest rallies of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) against the government, he said that brutal actions must not be taken to curb these protests.
It was also stated that gatherings by labourers, students and other groups were forcibly disrupted by the police and the clumsy police handling of such gatherings, the brutality against peaceful demonstrations, only add to the difficulties faced by citizens.
Rehman said that the requirement of seeking prior permission for public gatherings was repeatedly used as a tool to restrict rallies and protests.
The refusal to allow political and religious leaders' entry into a specific city or town on the grounds of maintaining law and order was used by the government as a tool to restrict protest by the opposition parties, he added.
The requirement, that the permission be sought for rallies, had been imposed by the government when the previous ban on political gatherings was relaxed, he condemned.
The formal grant of permission was often not available till the last minute, making the political rallies arrangements difficult, he criticised.