'Militant tactics, Murad's role': Govt details about PTI 'do-or-die' Islamabad mayhem

• Violent "vanguards" worked under Murad Saeed, says ministry.
• Miscreants comprised of about 1500 hard core fighters, it adds.
• Group "attacked" LEAs, "used govt machinery" for paving way.

ISLAMABAD: Days after the chaos in the federal capital city, the Ministry of Interior on Sunday revealed startling details about the Imran Khan-founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) recent "do-or-die" Islamabad protest.

The ministry gave a detailed account of the development that unfolded from its talks with the PTI, ahead of the party's November 24 protest march, following an order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), to busting alleged social media propaganda, the violent incidents as well as the losses incurred to the economy.

The ministry said the IHC on November 21 directed the federal government to take all necessary measures to maintain law and order in the federal capital.

The high court had directed the interior minister to engage with the PTI leadership in this regard. Given the sensitivity of the Belarusian president and the Chinese high-level delegation's visit, the former ruling party was initially asked to postpone the protest but on their persistence to continue with it, the PTI was subsequently offered Sangjani area as a designated location.

"In this regard, out of the ordinary and at odd timings, meetings were also allowed between the PTI leadership and its founder. On the contrary and in spite of the extraordinary concessions extended, the PTI violated the court’s orders blatantly and instead of holding a protest at a designated place [Sangjani], unlawfully breached entry towards the Red Zone of Islamabad," the interior ministry added.

Trained miscreants

The ministry said throughout the protest march from Peshawar to Red Zone Islamabad, violent protestors of the PTI aggressively engaged LEAs repeatedly using firearms and all sorts of other weaponry including steel slingshots, stun grenades, tear gas shells and nail-studded batons to force their way to Red Zone Islamabad.

"This violent protest was primarily orchestrated and logistically and financially sustained and supported by the resources of the government of KP. Alarmingly, the PTI’s protest included violent and trained miscreant elements including many illegal Afghan nationals who spearheaded the riots and violent activities throughout the march," it was alleged in the ministry’s statement.

The miscreants, it added, employed as the violent vanguard, comprised of about 1,500 hardcore fighters working directly under absconder and proclaimed offender Murad Saeed — the senior PTI leader and former minister.

"This vanguard group, using militant tactics violently attacked the LEAs and breached the blocks with the help of government machinery paving the way for the second wave of vehicles and protestors to cross. It must be noted that LEAs personnel, despite sustaining grievous injuries, exhibited a high degree of restraint against these violent protesters led by trained miscreants," it further said.

LEA personnel’s deaths

During this, the ministry said, a vehicle also ran over Rangers personnel performing duty at a check post in Islamabad, resulting in shahadat (martyrdom) of three Rangers soldiers and critical injuries to five others.

Besides, during the violent protest, one policeman embraced shahadat and 232 LEA personnel were also grievously injured by these miscreants. The violent mob not only attacked security forces but also set multiple police vehicles on fire, showcased firearms, burnt trees and police tents, damaged properties and created terror among the common citizens, it said.

"The Pakistan Army was deployed in Islamabad under Article 245 of the Constitution only to secure key government installations and foreign diplomats in the sensitive Red Zone while ensuring a secure environment for high-profile foreign dignitaries visiting the country.

"On 26 November, as protesting miscreants reached Red Zone, violating the lawful orders of the IHC, the situation escalated and they directly clashed multiple times with LEAs using firearms, tear gas shells, stun grenades, steel slingshots and nail-studded batons etc.

"The LEAs comprising police and Rangers were employed without live ammunition to disperse this violent mob while the army neither came in direct clash with these miscreants nor employed for riot control. During this process, the armed guards of the protesting leaders and the hardcore armed miscreants resorted to indiscriminate firing.

"The leadership under the cover of such self-induced violence instead of controlling the violent mob fled from the area. Once the area had been cleared from the violent protesters and miscreants, a site media visit was also promptly undertaken by both the information minister and minister for interior followed by the press talks."

Fake propaganda

The ministry said social media accounts of the PTI resorted to planned and coordinated massive fake propaganda of deaths caused by the LEAs so as to divert attention from this senseless, violent and failed activity.

The major hospitals of the capital city after due diligence rubbished reports of alleged gunshots and casualties inflicted by the LEAs. However, a sustained fabricated social media campaign, using old and AI-generated clips is being viciously undertaken by PTI and joined by other inimical elements, it said. There have been multiple false claims of deaths ranging from tens to hundreds to thousands on social media as well as the PTI political leadership and their official pages, it added.

"Alarmingly, certain elements of foreign media also fell prey to this fake news and propaganda without any credible evidence. The government functionaries including ministers as well as chief commissioner of ICT and senior police officials, who were directly involved in these riot control operations, have already repeatedly explained and clarified the actual situation and events unfolding with credible evidence. It may also be noted that use of lethal means by the LEAs, if at all to be employed, was best suited at multiple route blocks rather than within Red Zone under complete media and public glare," it said.

The interior ministry further said officers and jawans of the LEAs embraced shahadat, sustained injuries and risked their lives enduring grave physical hardships for multiple days to protect the lives and properties of citizens of Pakistan. Still, many Rangers and police personnel were critically injured and were receiving medical care, it added.

"Unfortunately, the PTI and its social media propagandists are bent upon to create divisions and confusion within the society. Such elements, whether inside the country or abroad, will surely be held accountable under relevant laws and no one will be allowed to sow divisions, hatred and propagate fake news.

"It is deplorable that the chief minister of KP made baseless inflammatory statements against institutions, using KP Assembly as a platform to distort facts and spread blatant lies, rather than being shameful of inciting innocent youth of KP for such undesirable activities," the ministry said.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that 39 lethal weapons including 18 automatic weapons had been recovered from the violent protesters and that amongst the apprehended offenders there were more than three dozen paid foreigners.

Financial losses

“With regards to material losses incurred during the violent protests, initial estimates suggest damages to the tune of hundreds of million. Besides, 11 vehicles of the LEAs were damaged including prison vans set ablaze.

“Due to these violent protests, indirect losses to the economy are estimated to be Rs192 billion per day. In addition to that, significant expenditure incurred on taking necessary security measures. While the plundering of the financial resources by the KP Government are separate,” it said.

The people of Pakistan including the proud people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa rejected this kind of violent and extremist streak of politics, it said, adding they also rejected the baseless allegations and malicious designs behind the vicious propaganda.

"The nation wholeheartedly stands firm with peace and stability in the country," it said in its concluding remark.

However, as per the PTI's claim, nearly 1,000 of its workers were arrested by the law enforcers in the late-night crackdown against the crowd who had gathered in Islamabad's D-Chowk as part of their "do-or-die" protest to secure Imran Khan's release who remains incarcerated for more than a year.

The former ruling party had also insisted that hundreds of protesters were shot resulting in casualties ranging from anywhere from eight to 40.