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PTI do-or-die protest

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Coordinates: 33°43′46″N 73°05′27″E / 33.7294°N 73.0908°E / 33.7294; 73.0908
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PTI do-or-die protest
Pakistani paramilitary forces push a praying man off the top of a shipping container.[1][2]
Date24 November – 27 November 2024
VenueD-Chowk (Islamabad)
LocationIslamabad, Pakistan
Coordinates33°43′46″N 73°05′27″E / 33.7294°N 73.0908°E / 33.7294; 73.0908
Also known asFinal call
Motive
ParticipantsPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Outcome
  • PTI failure, not a single demand met.
Deaths20
Non-fatal injuriesMultiple
Property damage$4 Million worth (vehicles only)[citation needed]
Arrests
  • 4000 (Pre-protest)
  • 1000 (Post-protest)

From 24–27 November 2024, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) organized a do-or-die protest in which supporters of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan clashed with police in Islamabad. At least six people were killed in the violence,[3][4] and hundreds were injured.[5] The party announced a "temporary suspension" of protests following the violence.[6]

A violent crackdown by Pakistani security forces led by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad resulted in significant casualties. Reports indicate at least four deaths and numerous injuries among both protesters and security personnel. The government denied using live rounds, asserting that the situation was under control after clearing the protest area.[7][8] According to anonymous sources in local hospitals speaking to The Guardian, government officials had confiscated records of dead and injured.[9] The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party described the incident as a "massacre," claiming that hundreds of its members were killed as police fired live ammunition during the protests, which had escalated since November 24.[10][11] The party said 8 of its workers were killed,[12] while party general-secretary Salman Akram Raja said 20 had died.[13]

On the evening of 27 November, Pakistani journalist Matiullah Jan, who had been investigating casualties from the protest, and his colleague Saqib Bashir were abducted by men in black uniforms from the parking lot of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. They were blindfolded and forced into a vehicle. Bashir recounted, "We were collecting data on the casualties."[14]

Hours before his abduction, Jan had appeared on a TV program where he read from what he claimed were hospital records contradicting the government's denial that live ammunition was used by security forces or that any protesters were killed during the dispersal. Bashir was released on a street three hours later, while Jan was subsequently charged with terrorism and possession of narcotics. A First Information Report (FIR) alleged that he was found with 246 grams of methamphetamine at a vehicle checkpoint in Islamabad's E-9 area. The case was registered at 3:20 a.m., nearly an hour after the reported incident. As of November 28, his whereabouts remain unknown, according to another colleague Asad Ali Toor.[14][15]

Preceding events

"Final Call" Announcement

On 13 November 2024, Imran Khan issued a “final call” for a protest on November 24 at D-Chowk, Islamabad from his imprisonment in Adiala Jail. The announcement was particularly in response to the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, which was criticized for undermining the Judiciary while Khan and his party opposed it. Furthermore, the announcement was made with demands to end the Sharif government’s alleged “unjust arrests” and “stolen mandate”, which refers to PTI’s claim that PML-N rigged the 2024 Pakistani general election.[16][17] Khan’s aides, his sister Aleema Khanum and Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur urged Pakistanis to follow the protest call, which also was for Khan’s release.[17][18]

Lockdown of Islamabad

Ahead of the protests, Pakistani Law Enforcement and the Government locked down the capital: Islamabad, fortressing the capital with many shipping containers and the deployment of thousands of armed security personnel and paramilitary forces. Several highways and roads leading to the city were also blocked and barricaded by the government in attempt to prevent protesters from entering the capital.[19]

On 22 November 2024, Section 144 was imposed by the Punjab government of Maryam Nawaz, barring sit-ins, rallies or protests for 3 days officially due to security concerns ahead of the protests.[20] Prior to the protest, 4,000 PTI supporters and members were arrested and detained by the government.[21] The same day, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared that PTI’s protest was unlawful and it was necessary for the government to “maintain law and order”.[22]

Internet restrictions

Mobile internet and access to messaging services such as WhatsApp were blocked by the government in areas of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The organization NetBlocks confirmed this alongside media sharing issues across the country.[19][23]

Warnings of terrorist attack

The National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) has issued a warning ahead of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) "do or die" protest scheduled for November 24. According to the advisory released on Saturday, the group known as "Fitna al-Khawarij," or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), may launch terror attacks in major cities on the protest day. NACTA also reported intelligence suggesting terrorists have entered Pakistan from Afghanistan.[24]

Timeline

PTI Protest

Imran Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, led thousands of PTI supporters into Islamabad, breaching security barricades.[25] She addressed the public near D-Chowk (Democracy Chowk), vowing to hold a sit-in until Khan's release and insisted on holding the protest at a central location near parliament, against Khan's instructions. Her active involvement marked a shift from her previously private role.[26][27][28]

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf initiated the protest on 24 November 2024 through several convoys across the country heading for D-Chowk by road. The largest and main convoy, led by Ali Amin Gandapur and Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi left from Peshawar. The convoy also included PTI lawmaker Shahid Ahmed Khattak.[29] The convoy went through Swabi, then crossed the Hazara Interchange through removing police obstacles and barriers, and then onto Hakkla Interchange, later reaching Islamabad.[30][31] PTI spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram claimed the number of people to be 70,000 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone.[32] PTI supporters defied government lockdowns and clashed with police. Bushra Bibi addressed crowds from atop a truck near D-Chowk.

Government Crackdown

During midnight the Government of Pakistan, Pakistan Police, Pakistan Army and Pakistan Rangers initiated a crackdown on the protests.[33] The Pakistan Army was deployed under Article 245 with orders of shoot-on-sight for the protesters.[34][35][36] Heavy tear gas shelling was initially fired at protesters prior to reaching Islamabad.[37] Protestors reached the edge of the Red Zone resulting in deadly clashes with police. By the end of 27 November, six people were reported to be killed as the protests turned into violent clashes. Four of these were paramilitary forces and two police serving the government. 100 policemen were also reported to be injured.[38][39] The Guardian reported that the government had been criticized for a “draconian response”.[32] The government arrested 1,000 protesters.[40][41] Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif labelled the protesters as “bloodthirsty”, further saying that it is not a peaceful protest, it is "extremism".[42]

Official sources told The Guardian there had been 17 civilian deaths from army and paramilitary gunfire and hundreds more had been injured. Doctors at hospitals in Islamabad said they had received multiple patients with gunshot wounds. The Guardian reported that they witnessed at least five patients with bullet wounds in one hospital, which was surrounded by police. A doctor in an emergency ward said he had treated more than 40 injured patients, several of whom had been shot. "At least seven have died and four are in critical condition in the hospital".[9] Drop Site News stated that "harrowing images have already begun circulating on social media of bloodied corpses of PTI activists and protestors".[43]

The crackdown slowly developed into a nation-wide and diaspora-wide discourse, being classified as Islamabad Massacre by public at large. Despite escalated censorship with DPI-based blocking of VPNs the day prior, videos of bloodshed crept in, protestors rushing their own, mostly heads and necks wrapped in clothes heavily to prevent bleeding out of victims. Several first-person testimonies started coming in about use of live rounds by deployed LEAs, exterminating protestors with clean headshots. Arrest of 450 protestors has been claimed, whereas various figures of casualties have been quoted. There developed an air of terror across the country, which while the interior minister claimed to be because of protestors whom he had relieved the public of, the public sentiment directs it to be caused by State itself, testified by the interior minister in his own words prior to the sounds of bullets heard all night across Islamabad sectors.[44][45][46][47] The government has denied using live rounds. Pakistan's security forces have been accused of pushing a man off a stack of cargo containers during the protests in the capital. Video footage showed officers carrying riot shields with markings indicating they were affiliated with the Pakistan Rangers and Pakistan Army, approaching the man kneeling while praying on top of the containers before pushing him over the edge. The video shows him trying to cling on to the containers before falling.[2] The protests were officially suspended by the party following the midnight crackdown.[6][48]

Former army officer Adil Raja alleged on George Galloway's The Mother of All Talk Shows that hundreds had been killed, and the bodies were withheld.[49]

Casualties

After the withdrawal of protesters from Islamabad's Blue Area, PTI leaders accused security forces of opening fire on party supporters, resulting in several fatalities. While party sources reported the deaths of at least six individuals, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, in a video statement, claimed that around 20 supporters had been killed.[50]

At the same time, unverified reports circulating on social media, and echoed by figures like Sardar Latif Khosa on television, suggested that the actual death toll could be significantly higher.[51] Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi firmly stated that there were no fatalities during the law enforcement action taken to disperse the marchers.[51] However, in this case, no such lists have been issued by healthcare authorities. The information circulating through journalists and social media appears to be based on anonymous sources, without any verifiable evidence to support it.

Whenever the issue of protester fatalities is raised, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar consistently responds by asking, "Where is the proof?".[52] Government officials maintain that since no security personnel on duty were armed with live firearms, there was no possibility of civilian casualties.[52] A supposed list of individuals brought to Islamabad's Polyclinic hospital, shared by social media users and reported by some journalists, claimed that at least two people had died and several others had been injured. However, in a statement on Wednesday morning, the hospital clarified that it had not issued any such list, and that the reports circulating on social media attributing the list to the hospital were false. A senior doctor from the capital, who requested anonymity, told Dawn that it was unfortunate the Ministry of Health had not released any official information regarding those injured or killed during the protest.[50]

PTI Claims

In a video message released on 27 november, PTI leader Salman Akram Raja rejected the official claim that no casualties occurred during the law enforcement action against their party’s marchers. Mr. Raja provided details, naming at least six victims: Muhammad Ilyas, Anees Satti, Malik Safdar Ali, Mubeen Aurangzeb, Abdul Rasheed, and Ahmad Wali. He stated that he would later share more information about other party workers and expressed concern that the state was instructing hospitals to destroy records of individuals whose bodies or injuries had been reported at healthcare facilities in the capital.[53] Separately, at least four men believed to have died in the crackdown against PTI marchers were laid to rest in various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday.[53] The funerals were attended by a large number of locals, with the coffins draped in the PTI flag. Sources indicated that both victims died from bullet wounds, and no postmortem was performed on their bodies.[50][53]

International Reaction

Amnesty International called for an “urgent and transparent” investigation into the crackdown which it called deadly for the protesters.[54]

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres deplored the violence in the protests, and called for calm and restraint on all sides.[55][56]

Democratic American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has condemned what she called was the “brutal repression” of demonstrators in Pakistan, adding that political violence was being used to "suppress democracy". "I stand with the brave Pakistanis who are rising up and protesting for change," she posted on X.[57].

Senator Fatima Payman of the Australian Senate reacted to the event stating that “The Australian government needs to take action like the US Congress and impose visa bans and asset freezes on General Asim Munir and others involved in corruption and human rights abuses”.[58]

Ro Khanna, a U.S. Representative from California tweeted that he was "[h]orrified by reports of an attempted cover-up of the alleged killings of peaceful protestors by Asim Munir's regime in Pakistan."[59]

References

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