Info minister says man pushed off container during PTI protest injured but ‘completely fine’
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Saturday said a man who was reportedly pushed off a container during the PTI’s Islamabad protest this week 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 “challenged his friend”, and was not offering prayers in reality.
The information minister did not state any further details about the man’s identity or specify if he was currently admitted to any hospital.
On Thursday, PTI’s MNA from Mandi Bahauddin (NA-85), Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Choudhary, stated the man’s name as Tahir Abbas Tarar in a Facebook post.
A picture shared by MNA Choudhary showed a man lying on what seemed to be a sofa, with his both arms fully bandaged. “May Allah bless you with good health and wellness,” he wrote.
‘All suspects to be punished’
In his televised address, Tarar also reiterated that no “live ammunition” was used by the security forces during the protest, as the PTI claims.
“So far, there has been no evidence regarding dead bodies,” the minister asserted.
“Let me tell you clearly, our forces do not have orders to use live ammunition in any protest. Live ammunition is not provided to forces during any protest,” he added.
“They are relying on dead bodies to erase how they are ashamed after fleeing [from 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 pictures from 2019, from the recent conflict in Gaza, 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, claiming there was evidence available for it, and inflicted damage on public property. “Poor people’s motorcycles have been set on fire but this was not posted anywhere [on social media]. Only dead bodies, dead bodies.”
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.
Referring to Afghan nationals arrested during the protest and suspects from whom allegedly “45 modern weapons were recovered”, Tarar vowed: “All these people would be punished. There will be effective prosecution.”
“No one from them would be released,” he said, referring to people who allegedly used teargas and pelted stones at the police.
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.