The Mystery Behind the PTI Protests: Hundreds of Casualties Claimed, but No Bodies, No Relatives, and No Funerals

PTI protest: hundreds of casualties claimed:

PTI, has been involved in a violent standoff in the country for the last couple of days. Protests across the country were launched by the party to demand the release of Imran Khan, who has been imprisoned on crimial acts.

PTI’s Allegations of Deaths:

The PTI claimed several people were killed during their protests, though different party leaders gave conflicting numbers of casualties at different junctures. In fact, at various junctures, PTI representatives claimed 33, 100, 200, and as many as 278 people had been killed in the protests. Subsequently, the initial figure of 33 deaths by PTI sources was corrected to 100 and, in certain cases, even 200 fatalities. These claims were made strong by the party’s leadership, who insisted that live ammunition had been used against protesters by security forces.

It went further to name a number of people whom, it argued, had died during protests. As loud as this was, physical evidence was remarkably lacking in these claims. The fact also disappointed PTI because no dead bodies were seen on roads, no funerals anywhere, and no distraught relative was screaming their lungs out against the death of their sons or brothers. The absence of all these pieces of physical evidence questioned the very notion/ credibility of all these assertions by PTI.

Government Denies Fatalities:

On the other side, the government and its representatives have strongly denied the claims of PTI. The Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that the accusations pointed by PTI were not correct, adding that the reports of fatalities among protesters lacked any credibility. Naqvi said despite PTI’s repeated claims, no hospital had reported any fatalities related to the protests. The hospital administration reported that a total of 66 security personnel and 36 civilians were brought into the emergency department from clashes, most of whose cases had been treated and discharged after the initial treatment, with a few kept under observation to further their medical treatment. Still, no serious signs of lethal injuries were there among them.

Interior Minister about casulaties:

Naqvi also directly addressed the calls for accountability by PTI, saying that they should name names and the places where such deceased persons existed. “If somebody has died, let them give the name and details,” Naqvi said, daring PTI to provide even a shred of evidence for the deaths they had claimed. He said some protesters had been injured in stone-pelting, but claims of large-scale fatalities were baseless.

Moreover, Naqvi said, the police deployed in the protest by PTI did not have any ammunition. According to him, one single shot would have brought a storm of international outcry, and the PTI narrative would have been lapped up. He had suggested the PTI tried to get themselves out of a state of embarrassment, adding that the number that the party brought out, too, had been thoroughly fabricated.

Competing Narratives of Violence:

The situation started getting grey with PTI and the government taking opposite sides on the number of dead. According to PTI leadership, a number of their supporters were shot when they were protesting peacefully. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was one of the most prominent PTI leaders. 

The Inspector General of Police Islamabad Ali Nasir Rizvi said that protesters were armed with weapons including AK-47, pistols, and sniper rifles. He accused that the protesters also used tear gas and slingshot at law enforcement agencies.

Rizvi added that over 200 vehicles were impounded while 39 weapons were recovered since the violence broke out.

SC gives verdict over Public Gathering ban after Interior Ministry’s Request:

It said it had rounded up nearly 1,000 protesters since clashes. While these were on, the aftereffects of the protests as an economic consequence began to materialize. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the protests for causing a tremendous financial loss. He said that due to unrest, the country faced an estimated Rs190 billion losses daily through disruption in trade and industry.

Economic and Social Impact:

The protest showed wide-ranging economic consequences. He said that demonstrations brought life to a standstill with the closure of businesses, brought factories to a grinding halt, and prevented laborers from earning their wages. The country’s stock market, too, suffered losses of 4,000 points during unrest before rebounding once the situation was brought under control. The impact of the protests exceeded just economic losses as the protests brought life in Islamabad and other major cities to a standstill.

This protest, further included violence which bought a lot of criticism against them from various human rights organization seeking peaceful solution of the issue. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan asked both PTI and government to sit down for talks in order to find a way forward without further blood and chaos.­

The Call for Justice:

The PTI leaders said the deaths had taken place and they continued to demand justice and accountability. Demanding an independent investigation into the alleged death, they asked the judiciary to intervene into the matter. The PTI leadership appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo motu notice of the death, accusing the government of a bid to cover up the killing of their workers.

In the days that followed the violent clashes, the PTI leadership ran away from the scene and left for their home province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa along with Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, while Chief Minister Gandapur himself is also among them. PTI had announced a temporary halt to the protest to violence from the government and turning the capital into a “slaughterhouse.” It said the future course of action as regards the protest would be decided in consultation with Imran Khan after receiving reports from party officials.

However, the tension remains high despite repeated denial from the government, while two diametrically opposed versions of the incidents-the extent of violence and the number of casualities-fueled sharp political divisions across the country. With conflicting narratives over what happened, nobody knows, and neither does the country that is at a critical juncture of its uncertain future as both the sides prepare to take on the next battle.