Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Saturday confirmed that a man who reportedly fell from a container during the PTI’s Islamabad protest was injured but “completely fine”, refuting claims circulating online about his death.
On November 26, Islamabad witnessed pitched battles between security forces and PTI supporters as the latter inched towards the heavily barricaded D-Chowk for the party’s ‘final call’ powershow, with intense teargas shelling used to disperse the protesters.
A late-night crackdown by the government ended in a hasty retreat of the PTI’s top leadership and supporters, following which the party abruptly suspended its protest movement.
In the wake of the protests, a video was widely circulated online, which showed uniformed men, who appeared to be security personnel equipped with riot control gear, shoving a man off a stack of three shipping containers that had been placed to block off D-Chowk.
A picture captured by an AFP photographer showed the man hanging off a corner of the container as the uniformed men stood on top of the container. Various posts on social media claimed the man had died.
Apparently referring to the incident, in a televised address aired today, Tarar said: “Propaganda was done that a person was offering prayers and was killed by pushing him down.
“He is a resident of Mandi Bahauddin and is completely fine. His video has emerged, he got hurt on the arm and has bandages,” the minister confirmed.
Tarar went on to claim that the person was recording a TikTok video as he had “offered a challenge to his friend”, and was not offering prayers in reality.
Referring to individuals allegedly involved in violence during the protest, Tarar vowed: “All these people would be punished. There will be effective prosecution.”
The minister highlighted the government’s recent decision to establish a dedicated anti-riot force to take action against rioters and further strengthen institutions to prevent “anti-state protests” in the future.
“PTI is now resorting to a false narrative of bodies to cover up the embarrassment of fleeing from the protest site,” Tarar said, adding that the party “failed to produce even a single video where security forces can be seen firing” on protesters.
Reiterating that Pims and Polyclinic hospitals have clearly stated that they had not received any bodies during the protest, Tarar said the PTI was using old and AI-generated images on its social media.
These were being stamped as fake and a cell had been established for e-verification of the footage, he noted.
The minister alleged that protesters used different weapons against security personnel and inflicted damage on public property.
More than 10,000 protesters surged into the city on the weekend, defying a ban on public gatherings and a lockdown to skirmish with 20,000 security forces enlisted to turn them back, AFP had reported.
At least six lives were lost in the three days of protests, which included a policeman and three Rangers officials who were knocked down by a speeding vehicle, officials and hospital sources said.
While the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) had confirmed that around 60, including security personnel, were injured, Tarar said Pims and Polyclinic Hospital had denied receiving any bodies or people with gunshot wounds.
Claims and counter-claims over deaths purportedly caused by law-enforcement action against the PTI marchers remained a major bone of contention as federal ministers asserted that security personnel did not fire on the protesters while the PTI has claimed that at least 12 people died.
However, Rana Sanaullah, an adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, later said the “official number” of protester deaths did not reach double figures, while acknowledging that “four to five” deaths were reported.
More to follow
