ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday demanded formation of a high-powered judicial commission to probe D-Chowk “massacre”, during its November 26 peaceful sit-in, to bring those responsible for the bloodshed to book.
In a statement issued here, the PTI spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram said that an impartial independent judicial commission be formed to expose the government ministers’ “blatant lies” with regard to Islamabad massacre.
He said the commission tasked to uncover the truth about a number of martyrs in the carnage, hold those responsible for the heinous act accountable, and deliver justice to the victims and their families.
He blamed the government for the deaths and violence that occurred during the peaceful protest, saying the government is spreading disinformation to conceal the facts but its efforts to hide the truth would ultimately fail.
Akram declared that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet ministers particularly Mohsin Naqvi, Atta Tarar, Khawaja Asif as “criminals” and vowed their accountability for their actions, regardless of the repercussions.
He said the violent suppression of peaceful demonstrators, which led to numerous deaths and hundreds of injuries due to direct gunfire by paramilitary forces and police, will have lasting impact, and those behind it will be made accountable sooner or later.
He claimed that shortly after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s presser on the night of November 25, Rangers opened fire with live ammunitions, essentially staging a rehearsal for the tragic events that transpired at Chongi 26.
The next evening, he said electricity in Blue Area was cut off, prompting the initiation of a large-scale operation, during which the entire area was sealed off.
He highlighted that from the outset, police, Rangers, and the Frontier Corps had been stationed in the area, and the Pakistan Army had also been summoned before the operation commenced.
He revealed that injured protesters who were brought to the PIMS and Polyclinic hospitals were secretly shifted to undisclosed locations, with hospital officials prohibited from sharing any details. Additionally, he noted that numerous bodies have inexplicably gone missing.
He also claimed that paramedical staff, and doctors of the party who were giving first aid to the injured protesters at the protest site, were kidnapped along with their vehicles and ambulances, and subjected to physical assault.
Akram said that during the protests, workers detained police officers who were firing teargas shells on the protesters from various sites, but instead of taking revenge, the workers ensured their safe release.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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