The Balochistan Assembly passed a resolution amid an opposition walkout on Thursday to ban the PTI after this week’s protests in Islamabad even as PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said that the room for talks with the party was still present.
A day of pitched battles between security forces and PTI protesters across the federal capital ended in a hasty retreat of the party’s top leadership and supporters from the Red Zone in the early hours of Wednesday.
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. Claims and counter-claims over deaths purportedly caused by law-enforcement action against the PTI marchers remained a major bone of contention between the government and the opposition party on Wednesday.
The resolution was moved by Balochistan Minister for Communications and Works Mir Saleem Ahmad Khosa, provincial ministers Mir Sadiq Umrani, Mir Asim Kurd Gelo, Raheela Hamid Khan Durrani, Bakht Mohammad Kakar and parliamentary secretaries against the PTI’s actions during the protests.
Criticising the PTI for the nationwide riots on May 9, 2023, the resolution said the party was once again “committing acts of violence” and had taken on the form of a “political anarchist group”.
“This kind of anarchist agenda of the PTI has badly affected every system and school of thought in the country, including the judiciary, the media and the country’s economy
“It should be noted that the talk of a province’s constitutional chief minister of opposing the federation is tantamount to taking forward the agenda of anti-national forces,” it said.
Referring to the alleged use of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s resources in the protest, the resolution said that its “open attack on the federation with government machinery and resources” was clear evidence of the PTI’s non-political agenda.
“Keeping in view the above facts, this House of the Balochistan Assembly strongly demands the federal government to ensure an immediate ban on PTI for trying to spread chaos in the country and pit the Pakistan Army and security forces against the people. So that the anxiety and suffering experienced by the people of the country due to PTI can be ended,” the resolution demanded in its conclusion.
Questioned about the ban in an interview on Geo News show ‘Capital Talk’, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah said it was the provincial assembly’s matter and opinion.
“This was discussed in cabinet yesterday and no consensus was reached,” he said, adding that the meeting discussed two options.
“We discussed how it’s possible that a chief minister brings people into the capital like this … governor’s rule was suggested. The other option was that there could be constitutional and legal implications which need to be looked at.
“We decided that we will consider our options further and engage allies like the PPP,” he said. “Our decision will be based on consensus but we will not act in haste.”
With regards to governor’s rule in KP, the ex-interior minister said it could be imposed as per the Constitution, “but there are political and administration complications”.
“This is one option … but the other option is making the PTI face their mistake,” Sanaullah said, adding that governor’s rule would be taking to providing relief to the party after it was bogged down in the fallout of the protest’s aftermath.
When asked about the possibility of negotiations with the PTI, Sanaullah said, “You can’t talk about negotiations and political dialogue and then adopt a truly insulting attitude, then a stage arrives that you say we will not talk about dialogue.”
Despite that, he said he echoed the sentiments of PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, saying that the party supremo had said around a year ago that the country’s problems would not be resolved until all political stakeholders came together.
Questioned again if he favoured negotiations, Sanaullah said: “Yes, there is no other option than this.”
Meanwhile, the PTI issued a list of supporters that it alleged were still missing since party protesters were cleared from Islamabad in a state crackdown.
Following their retreat from Islamabad’s Blue Area, PTI leaders alleged that a number of the party’s supporters had perished, allegedly due to firing by security personnel. While party sources were claiming the deaths of at least six people, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja claimed in a video message that around 20 party supporters lost their lives.
Pir Suleman Shah Rashdi, a recently resigned deputy director at the information ministry, had also made similar allegations last night about state violence against PTI protesters at D-Chowk.
In a post on X on Thursday morning, the PTI issued what it said was a list of protesters who were either allegedly arrested or missing from just “only four constituencies of Peshawar”.
The list included 11 party workers from PK-81 with six arrested and five missing, 13 from PK-83 with five arrested and eight missing and 15 from PK-75 and 11 from PK-73, all of whom were marked missing.
Last night, the PTI posted on X that “a dozen innocent protesters have been confirmed dead, hundreds remain missing, and thousands are injured — many in critical condition. The death toll continues to rise exponentially as hospitals across the capital report an influx of dead bodies and severely injured protesters. Authorities are now refusing to release the bodies and are actively erasing evidence of the brutality.”
The post lashed out at the government, saying it had “resorted to direct firing on innocent civilians exercising their democratic right to peaceful protest.”
Meanwhile, former president Arif Alvi also shared “alarming scenes from Islamabad massacre” in a post on X.
Alleging open firing by the authorities on “unarmed innocent people”, the former president claimed: “In the morning roads were washed to remove all evidence of blood, thousands of bullet casings and bullets removed. Then to complete their colossal crime, hospital records were taken away, mortuaries were sealed and dead bodies hidden.”
Separately, the Rawalpindi police held a press conference to address the protest, saying the police did not open fire on the protesters, nor did they injure any protesters, while providing casualty figures of its personnel.
Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer (RPO) Babar Sarfraz Alpa recounted the incidents from Nov 24, when the protest first began, saying the police tried to restrain the thousands of protesters who descended on Pindi and Attock.
“The Nov 24 protest call started as a peaceful one but ended up being violent,” the RPO said, alleging that the protesters fired directly at the police and used teargas. “They became trained protesters, stood in front and used various government resources.
“But police tried to restrain and not injure anyone, so much so that there were no reports of any protester being injured, nor did any hospital report any injuries, in the entire Pindi district.
Protesters stayed in Pindi and Attock all throughout Sunday and Monday, and police engaged them and tried to restrain but they were fired upon and the protesters were violent, the RPO said.
“On Nov 24, 170 Pindi police officers were injured. Among the injured are SSP, SP, DSP, and other police personnel. Among the injured, two were victims of bullet shots and 25 are in critical condition because of the protesters’ violence with sticks,” RPO Alpa said, adding that the protesters also set fire to 11 police vans.
He said that 262 policemen were injured in the past three months in Pindi.
“Police have registered 32 cases and 1,151 protesters have been arrested. When the data was checked, 64 of those arrested were Afghan nationals; four had resident cards, while 60 were illegal,” RPO Alpa said regarding the Nov 24 protest.
Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Khalid Mehmood Hamdani also spoke at the press conference alongside Attock District Police Officer (DPO) Sardar Ghias Gul Khan.
The CPO noted that 24 constables were injured when police engaged the protesters upon their arrival in Hakla, adding that some of the injured were in critical condition, while Constable Mubashar Bilal was martyred.
“Despite that, we did not return fire, we restrained, and we have no reports that any protesters were injured,” the CPO said.
He added that police engaged the protesters at the Sangjani motorway but had to retreat after a few hours so they didn’t “suffer losses” because the protesters were allegedly directly firing at the police.
“People who had nothing to do with the protest had to suffer because of barricades on the roads, that was an unavoidable necessity, simply because of the protesters’ violence and the call that they would march on Adiala Road towards Adiala Jail,” the CPO said. “They tried to destabilise Rawalpindi but were unsuccessful.”
He noted that wireless communication, ball bearings and rods with nails on them were recovered from some of the arrested protesters. “The investigation is ongoing, and we will share more info as we get it.”
Meanwhile, the DPO shared photos of the injuries sustained by Constable Wajid Ali from Faisalabad.
“After this firing and getting injured, police have two options: police, according to the law, can respond with weapons. The problem with that is there could have been collateral damage and we restrained. That left us with the second option that we strategically retreat.
“To save human lives, we retreated, after which the protesters took over Kati Pahari. But in that restraint, 170 of my personnel were injured, 25 of whom are critical. They have skull fractures, leg fractures and their backs are fractured. There is not one injured protester from Attock police. Not one single protester was injured by Attock police, this is not on record in any hospital,” the DPO said.
He added that various things were recovered from the protesters, including personal items and “stuff they stole from the police and the people.”
“God willing the law will now take its course,” the DPO said.
