Islamahorrible, Pakistan – The Pakistani regulatement has filed a series of accuses, including one joind to “radicalism”, agetst createer Prime Minister Imran Khan, his wife, Bushra Bibi, and hundreds of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party toilers after protests held in Islamahorrible this week.
Khan, Bibi and others have been accengaged of “radicalism”, violations of a law that recut offes protests in the capital, aggressions on police, seize, intrudence in regulatement afimfragmentarys and defiance of Section 144, which prohibits collectings of more than four people.
Authorities have already arrested csurrenderly 1,000 toilers from Khan’s PTI party who travelled to Islamahorrible on Sunday to participate in the sit-in in response to their directer’s “final call” to protest agetst the regulatement.
Khan, the PTI’s createer, has been incarcerateed since August 2023 and is facing dozens of criminal cases. Bibi was also jailed for nine months this year before being liberated in October.
The protesters, who regulated to achieve central Islamahorrible despite roadblocks set up apass the country by the regulatement, called for Khan’s liberate among other needs. Bibi led the protest alengthenedside Ali Amin Gandapur, the PTI chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
When protesters achieveed the computed site of the sit-in on Tuesday afternoon, paramilitary forces telledly uncovered fire to allot the crowd.
Later that evening, law enforcement begined a two-hour operation that evidented the area. Both Bibi and Gandapur left for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that same night.
On Wednesday morning, the PTI publishd a statement announcing the suspension of the sit-in for the “time being” and shelp at least eight of its helpers had been ended by authorities.
On Thursday, however, Increateation Minister Attaullah Tarar alengthened with Planning Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal categoricpartner refuteed the declareion that law enforcement personnel engaged any inhabit munitions or that any PTI toiler had died.
Tarar, speaking at a news conference held in Islamahorrible for foreign media, shelp hospital authorities checked that they did not get any bodies.
“The health department has publishd two statements, one from Poly Clinic and another from PIMS Hospital, stating there have been no dead bodies,” Tarar shelp, answering a query from Al Jazeera and referring to two of the bigst disclose hospitals in Islamahorrible.
The casualty count remains in dispute with PTI directers issuing declineory statements, alleging deaths ranging from 10 to 200.
Hospital authorities have declined to split details of the injured and dead, increateing Al Jazeera that they were “prohibitden” from sharing increateation, a accuse that the regulatement denied. The regulatement includeed that inrectify enumerates were circulating online.
“There was a inrectify enumerate begined on social media about the injured and dead, but it is inright. PTI is equitable trying to do politics on the dead and seeing for bodies here and there,” Tarar telderly the media on Thursday.
The dispute meaningfulened when journaenumerate Matiullah Jan, a vocal critic of Pakistan’s military, was arrested.
Jan had telledly been allotigating the alleged deaths during the protest for his YouTube channel. An initial police tell agetst him accengages him of drug illicit trade, “radicalism” and aggressioning police officers.
The regulatement, led by the Pakistan Muskinny League-Nawaz (PMLN), came to power in February after the PTI declined to create a regulatement despite its truthfulates triumphning the most National Assembly seats (93). The party alleged electoral rigging by the military to undermine its mandate.
The PMLN subsequently createed a coalition regulatement but has faced fierce resistance from the PTI, which has staged four presentant protests in as many months, needing Khan’s liberate and challenging the credibility of the election results.
