D-Chowk protest: PTI’s Gohar demands probe into alleged deaths

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Gohar Ali Khan called on the government on Wednesday to open an investigation into alleged deaths of the party’s protesters at a sit-in in the capital last month. He warned of more protests if the parliament-supervised investigation wasn’t proceeded.

The remarks of Gohar came after National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub called for a judicial inquiry into the matter, accusing Sharif of issuing a “kill order” and alleging that the security forces used lethal weapons provided by the NATO to fight terrorism.

No protester killed during LEAs operation against PTI sit-in: interior ministry

“If shots were fired, then responsibility must be assigned. We also demand that justice must be served and want to get it through this House. Do not force us to take to the streets again,” Gohar said.

Last month, the Ministry of Interior said no death had been reported among protesters during a “successful operation” carried out by the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) against the PTI sit-in in Islamabad.

Thousands of PTI protesters gathered in the centre of Islamabad last month after a convoy, led by PTI founder Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, broke through several security lines to the edge of the city’s highly fortified red zone.

However, PTI called off its much-hyped protest after a sweeping midnight raid by security forces in the capital Islamabad in which hundreds of people were arrested.

In pictures: after chaos, destruction, PTI protest called off amid security crackdown

“The protest organised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in Islamabad has been peacefully resolved in the last night’s operations against the protesters. It is important to note that, as of now, no death has been reported, and the claims circulating regarding any such incidents are baseless and unverified,” the ministry statement read then.

The PTI leadership has accused government authorities of using brutal force to disperse protests.

On the NA floor today, Gohar said he would focus his speech on the “massacre in Islamabad”.

“Even if bullets have been fired, there should be the courage to answer questions, apologize, investigate, and compensate victims,” the PTI chairman demanded.

IK gives final call for anti-govt march

He claimed that the protesters in Islamabad were peaceful and did not carry weapons or use “guerilla force.”

The victims were Pakistani civilians, he said.

In a related development, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) CM Gandapur claimed that the “PTI sit-in is still ongoing.”

He said the protest was a movement that would continue until Imran called it off.

“We have been targets of violence. Our party has been cracked down upon, our mandate has been stolen. Our leader is in jail, our leader’s wife was thrown in jail,” he said.

PTI claimed some deaths in the LEAs operation against the party protesters in Islamabad last night, which the interior ministry rejected.