 "Paramilitary soldiers try to detain a supporter of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on top of a shipping container during a protest demanding the release Imran Khan, at the Red Zone area in Islamabad. AFP")
After pitched battles between security forces and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party protesters, an eerie calm returned to Islamabad in Pakistan on Wednesday when supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan made a hasty retreat.
Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was leading the protest , and other demonstrators fled in vehicles when police pushed back against the protesters following clashes in which at least seven people were killed.
As PTI supporters left the protest site, came complaints of brutality by Pakistan’s army and police, including one incident in which security forces were accused of pushing a man off a stack of cargo containers on Tuesday (November 26).
What’s the truth?
Thrown off a container
The PTI has accused the Pakistan security forces of throwing a man off a stack of cargo containers on Tuesday in Islamabad, where crowds demanded the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The man had been praying on top of a container when armed officers approached him and “brutally pushed him off from a height equivalent to three storeys,” PTI said.
Unverified video footage of the protests shows security forces approaching a man sitting in prayer on top of a pile of three shipping containers. A riot-gear-clad officer then pushes him over the edge of the platform, where he clings on briefly with his fingers before a further shove sends him head-first toward the pavement.
The condition of the man remains unknown.
BBC later confirmed that such an incident did take place on Tuesday at the corner of Jinnah and Attaturk avenues in Islamabad, where protesters had gathered. However, it stopped short of confirming if Pakistan Rangers had, in fact, pushed the man down from the container.
Complaints of brutality
Following their retreat from the protest site, PTI alleged that the security forces had indiscriminately opened fire on protesters. The former PM’s aides claimed dozens of people died and hundreds were injured during chaotic scenes on Tuesday night in the heart of the capital city. They further alleged that hospitals were being told to cover up casualties by the country’s powerful army.
The centre of the city, known as D-Chowk, was the scene of violent clashes as protesters who had travelled from across the country came up against security forces. Protesters set shipping containers ablaze while riot police and army officers fired teargas and rubber bullets and were also accused of using live ammunition.
PTI later claimed it was suspending its protest “in view of the government’s brutality and the government’s plan to turn the capital into a slaughterhouse”.
However, Pakistan government disputed these claims made by PTI, saying that 600 arrests had been made but nobody had been killed. Ali Rizvi, Islamabad’s police chief, denied that live ammunition was used during the operation, which he said was conducted alongside paramilitary forces.
Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan’s minister for information and broadcasting, also said that there had been no firing and no fatalities. Similarly, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that officers had “bravely repulsed the protesters”.
But medical staff at hospitals seemed to be echoing what PTI said about shooting at protesters. Doctors were quoted as telling The Guardian that they had received multiple patients with gunshot wounds.
A doctor who was on duty in the emergency ward on Tuesday night said he had treated more than 40 injured patients, several of whom had been shot. “At least seven have died and four are in critical condition in the hospital,” he told The Guardian. “Eight more have been admitted to the hospital with bullet wounds.”
The doctor also claimed there had been an attempt to cover up any fatalities. “All records of dead and injured have been confiscated by authorities. We are not allowed to talk. Senior government officials are visiting the hospital to hide the records,” he said.
Pakistan’s three days of unrest
The unrest in Islamabad began on Sunday when a convoy of vehicles carrying protesters set off from the city of Peshawar. These protesters led by Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders were demanding the release of Imran Khan — who has been in jail since last May.
They also want the repeal of a new constitutional amendment, which has increased the government’s power to select superior court justices and pick those judges to hear political cases. Khan’s supporters also believe February elections were not free or fair, calling it a “stolen mandate.”
Khan has repeatedly urged his supporters to take to the streets demanding his release, and violence has broken out in several cities.
Now, the Pakistan protesters have returned home. But it remains to be seen if they stay there or return to agitating.
With inputs from agencies