ISLAMABAD, NOV 29: Amid rising tensions between the former ruling party and the incumbent government, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has vowed to register cases against the government’s top officials including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over the killing of party workers during a protest in Islamabad that abruptly put off after a late-night crackdown.
“The government has been trying to conceal the facts and whoever is coming forward to expose them is being arrested,” PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said while addressing a press conference in Peshawar.
He added that the PTI would file FIRs against PM Shehbaz, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar over “protesters’ deaths”.
The development comes as nearly 1,000 PTI workers, as per the party’s claim, were arrested by the law enforcers in the late-night crackdown against the crowd that had gathered in Islamabad’s D-Chowk as part of their “do-or-die” protest to secure party founder Imran Khan’s release who remains incarcerated for more than a year.
The Imran Khan-founded party has claimed that hundreds of protesters were shot resulting in casualties ranging from anywhere from eight to 40.
However, the government has categorically denied direct firing and has ruled out any fatalities during the action to disperse the PTI marchers.
Slamming the government for “denying the facts”, Akram — in today’s presser — said that they have video evidence, of how many bullets were fired. “At least 12 people were killed on the spot and the bodies were not handed over to the relatives,” he claimed.
He alleged that the incumbent rulers pressurised Polyclinic Hospital in Islamabad and concealed its lists, which he claimed contained details of killed and injured protesters. “Many of our missing workers and supporters in their [police] possession.”
Furthermore, the spokesperson said that PTI’s legal teams were assisting the arrested protesters, adding that they were not “terrorists but peaceful protesters”.
Akram also criticised the Punjab government’s actions, alleging that the authorities barged into every provincial MNA’s residence and vandalised it.
In response to a question, he said that the imposition of governor rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be the “worst of stupidities”.
He further lambasted the authorities for passing a resolution regarding a ban on the PTI in the Balochistan Assembly, saying that they will table a resolution in the KP assembly seeking a ban on the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Responding to a question, Akram said that KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur honoured the prestige of Pashtuns by saving Bushra Bibi, the wife of Imran Khan, from arrest.
Gandapur for speedy completion of missing, deceased workers’ lists
Meanwhile, KP CM Gandapur had called for prioritisation of expedited completion of the list of PTI workers who are missing or have died during the party’s latest Islamabad protest.
“Our priority should be to finalise the lists of party workers who were killed, arrested or still missing after the law enforcement agencies’ crackdown on our peaceful sit-in in the federal capital,” said the provincial chief executive while speaking in a meeting attended by party leaders.
“Once these lists are completed, we will distribute compensation of Rs10 million each to the families of the deceased, and legal proceedings will begin to secure the release of arrested party workers and office-bearers.”
He added that the PTI’s legal team had been tasked with preparing necessary formalities to lodge a first information report (FIR) against law enforcement agencies for allegedly directly targeting peaceful workers and party leaders during the crackdown.
Gandapur, who had already announced that the ongoing protest would continue until Khan was released but called it off, assured attendees that party workers would not be abandoned at this critical time.
“Our party workers are assets who have stood firm against unprecedented persecution to secure their leader Khan’s freedom. We will never leave them alone during this difficult period,” he reiterated.
