Pakistan: Minister for I&B Tarar accuses Tehreek-e-Insaf of false narrative on protester shootings

Dec 04, 2024

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 4 : Pakistan's Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar, on Tuesday criticised the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for fabricating a false narrative regarding alleged firing at protesters during the November 26 demonstration, as reported by ARY News.
In a televised address, Tarar challenged the PTI to provide evidence of law enforcement agencies firing at their protesters during the protest and accused the opposition party of misleading the public with lies and fabricated stories.
The minister reaffirmed the government's stance, asserting that law enforcement agencies had not fired at PTI protesters in Islamabad. "There is not a single video in which law enforcement agencies can be seen directly firing on protesters. They [PTI protesters] have all kinds of videos, but there is no video evidence of [direct firing] as this never happened," he said, as quoted by ARY News.
Tarar also referred to a viral video of a man who claimed to have been shot, stating that when the bandage was removed, there was no visible bullet wound on his hand, ARY News reported.
Refuting PTI's claims of hundreds of deaths during the protest, Tarar challenged the party to present the alleged victims' bodies and remarked that the supposed bodies had only been found on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, X, and WhatsApp.
The information minister also mentioned Barrister Gohar Ali Khan's statement from PTI, where he confirmed 12 deaths and noted that PTI leaders had not expressed condolences for the four Rangers and one police officer killed during the November 26 protest.