- Military deployed as third line of defence, says deputy PM.
- Dar reaffirms govt’s dedication to make sure Crimson Zone’s security.
- “Govt had proven restraint in dealing with Islamabad protest.”
ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) allegations of “straight firing” at civilians throughout its “do-or-die” protest in Islamabad, International Minister Ishaq Dar has clarified that the regulation enforcement companies (LEAs) weren’t supplied with dwell ammunition, however water cannon, tear gasoline and batons.
“Police and Rangers had been deployed within the first two tiers, with the military because the third line of defence to guard the Diplomatic Enclave, Parliament Home and different necessary buildings,” he stated whereas briefing members of the diplomatic corps on the current state of affairs after the PTI protest.
The previous ruling celebration’s much-hyped protest in Islamabad, aimed toward securing PTI founder Imran Khan’s launch who has been behind bars for greater than a yr, culminated in PTI’s hasty retreat after the federal government’s midnight crackdown on the protesters.
The Imran Khan-founded celebration has since claimed that a minimum of 12 of its employees had been killed and 1,000 had been arrested. Nevertheless, the federal government has categorically denied utilizing dwell ammunition in opposition to the protesters and stated that 4 regulation enforcers together with three Rangers personnel and policeman had been martyred in the course of the protest.
Briefing the international diplomats, Dar — who can be the deputy prime minister — stated that the federal government had enacted a brand new regulation “Peaceable Meeting and Public Order Act, 2024” that barred the protest demonstrations within the Crimson Zone and required permission from a Justice of the Peace for any public gatherings.
Explaining why the federal government resorted to sure actions in opposition to the protestors, he stated the Islamabad Excessive Court docket (IHC) had barred the PTI from holding any protest gathering within the Crimson Zone space of the federal capital.
In pursuance of the court docket ruling, the federal government had tasked Inside Minister Mohsin Naqvi to have interaction with the celebration however to no avail.
He stated the federal authorities at all times prioritised the Crimson Zone’s safety which housed Parliament Home, the Supreme Court docket of Pakistan, federal establishments and the diplomatic corps.
Dar knowledgeable the diplomats that PTI had chosen to carry a protest on November 24, which coincided with the deliberate go to of the Belarusian president.
He added that this was per the celebration’s previous “malafide apply” of scheduling protests on vital dates, such because the SCO summit earlier this yr and in 2014, when their protest led to the postponement of the Chinese language president’s go to.
He recalled that the Supreme Court docket had dismissed PTI’s claims of rigging in 35 Nationwide Meeting seats — the first motive behind the 2014 sit-in — but the celebration by no means apologised, regardless of having dedicated to take action in a written settlement with the federal government.
Dar defined that PTI stubbornly tried to march into the Crimson Zone, regardless of the federal government’s supply of another protest website in Sangjani. He emphasised that human rights shouldn’t be exercised in ways in which trigger lawlessness and endanger the lives and property of each Pakistanis and the diplomatic corps.
The international minister highlighted that the federal government had proven restraint, as LEAs had been solely geared up with water cannons and tear gasoline, not dwell ammunition.
Dar additionally questioned the legality of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa authorities utilizing public sources to stage a march on the federal capital, asserting that no federating unit had the suitable to take action.