ISLAMABAD: Amid rising tensions among the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the government, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday rejected PTI’s allegations approximately “straight firing” at civilians at some point of its “do-or-die” protest in Islamabad, which turned into unexpectedly get rid of after crackdown. Briefing contributors of the diplomatic corps on recent situation after PTI protest, Dar — who is additionally the deputy top minister — said that the government had proven restraint as regulation enforcement agencies (LEAs) were only ready with water cannons and tear gas, not stay ammunition. The former ruling birthday celebration’s a lot-hyped protest in Islamabad, aimed at securing PTI founder Imran Khan’s launch who has been in the back of bars for extra than a 12 months, culminated in PTI’s hasty retreat after the government’s nighttime crackdown on the protesters. The Imran Khan-based birthday party has considering that claimed that at the least 12 of its people had been killed and 1,000 have been arrested. However, the authorities has categorically denied the use of live ammunition towards the protesters and stated that 4 law enforcers including 3 Rangers employees and policeman had been martyred in the course of the protest. Briefing the foreign diplomats, Dar said that the police and Rangers were deployed within the first levels, with the navy because the 0.33 line of defence to shield the Diplomatic Enclave, Parliament House and different vital buildings. He further stated that the authorities had enacted a brand new law “Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, 2024” that barred the protest demonstrations in the Red Zone and required permission from a Justice of the Peace for any public gatherings. Explaining why the authorities resorted to positive actions towards the protestors, he stated the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had barred the PTI from conserving any protest gathering within the Red Zone region of the federal capital. In pursuance of the court ruling, the government had tasked Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to engage with the birthday celebration but to no avail. He said the federal government constantly prioritised the Red Zone’s safety which housed Parliament House, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, federal institutions and the diplomatic corps. Dar knowledgeable the diplomats that PTI had chosen to hold a protest on November 24, which coincided with the planned go to of the Belarusian president. He brought that this changed into regular with the party’s beyond “malafide exercise” of scheduling protests on huge dates, which includes the SCO summit earlier this 12 months and in 2014, when their protest led to the postponement of the Chinese president’s visit. He recalled that the Supreme Court had dismissed PTI’s claims of rigging in 35 National Assembly seats — the primary motive behind the 2014 take a seat-in — yet the birthday party never apologised, notwithstanding having devoted to achieve this in a written agreement with the authorities. Dar explained that PTI stubbornly tried to march into the Red Zone, despite the authorities’s provide of an opportunity protest web page in Sangjani. He emphasized that human rights need to not be exercised in approaches that cause lawlessness and endanger the lives and belongings of each Pakistanis and the diplomatic corps. The foreign minister highlighted that the government had shown restraint, as LEAs were most effective geared up with water cannons and tear fuel, now not live ammunition. Dar also puzzled the legality of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government the usage of public sources to stage a march at the federal capital, affirming that no federating unit had the proper to do so.
