December 4, 2024
Islamabad – While the government may have succeeded in repelling PTI supporters from the capital’s red zones last week, a battle over narratives between the two sides continues over the deaths that reportedly occurred during the confrontations.
The PML-N-led government insists no PTI supporters have been killed by law enforcement officers, while the latter still insists its activists are targeted by the state. The federal information minister told a press conference that no PTI staff was killed in the clashes while accusing the Imran Khan-led party of spreading false images and videos on social media to support its narrative. Separately, the government said four security personnel died in the violence and about 190 people were injured in confrontations with protesters.
While PTI leaders and supporters initially cited widely varying numbers, the party now says 12 supporters were killed in the melee and that the party concealed the truth. In fact, the government is concerned about PTI's narrative on social media, which is why it has set up a joint task force to track down those behind “large-scale malicious activity”.
Amid these accusations and counter-claims, the state would be better off supporting a transparent investigation into the reported deaths rather than focusing on hunting down PTI's keyboard warriors. While combating fake news is important, even more important is determining whether anyone actually died during the confrontation. Reports of law enforcement officer deaths must also be investigated.
Therefore, a judicial commission acceptable to both parties can be formed to conduct an impartial inquiry into the matter. This will put the rumors to rest and ensure that justice is served.
It will also be important for the government and opposition to agree on some rules of engagement for future protests. The right to protest is an important part of the democratic process, but some standard operating procedures need to be finalized and agreed to by all parties so that future demonstrations do not end in bloodshed.
In addition, the Prime Minister also proposed the establishment of a special anti-riot squad. If the plan is implemented, the country needs to give clear guidelines on where and how the team can be deployed, and its core mission should be to deal with unstable situations through non-lethal means. The government's efforts to frame PTI's protests as “anti-national” also need to be reconsidered. As noted above, all political parties and groups have a constitutional right to peaceful assembly.
Therefore, criticism of the government cannot automatically be considered criticism of the state, as this provides the government with license to label all opposition parties and critical groups as “anti-national”. There needs to be a clear line between anti-government protests and anti-national activities.
