'Don’t force us to take to streets again': Gohar calls govt out over protesters’ deaths

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has warned the government of further protests if the demand for an inquiry into the alleged deaths of party workers during last month’s Islamabad demonstrations was not met.

“If shots were fired, then responsibility must be assigned. We demand that justice be served and that we get it through this House. Do not force us to take to streets again,” he said while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly.

Barrister Gohar also called on the government to have the “courage to give answers”, saying that people will remember “the echo of bullets for generations”.

The PTI chief was referring to party’s claimed death toll of 12 during violent clashes between workers and law enforcement during formers’ march on the federal capital in the last week of November. Protests had turned ugly amid heavy resistance from the authorities and a subsequent crackdown on PTI workers three days into the march.

With conflicting reports on number of casualties pouring in, the government had reported six deaths, including four law enforcement personnel; whereas the PTI’s claimed toll ranged from 9 to over a whopping 200. No evidence, however, was brought forward by the opposition party to prove its claims as misinformation flooded the internet. The government also maintained that only non-lethal rounds were used to disperse the protesters.

On Wednesday, Barrister Gohar declared that the demonstrators in Islamabad were peaceful and no one carried any weapons. They did not use “guerilla force”, he said in response to government claims of armed protesters attempting to lay siege on the capital.

“They were Pakistani civilians. They did not have any training,” he asserted.

Barrister Gohar also called out defence minister and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Khawaja Asif. “You have been in this parliament for more years than my age… is it becoming of you as a leader to say that no bullets were fired?”

“This is not the time for revenge but you could have called for a case to be filed… for an investigation. These are your citizens and our citizens. We say it is our government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but all the people there are not just PTI’s. People from all ethnicities, all religions, and all political parties live there […] but we do not open fire at anyone,” he added.

Gohar said that despite the government declaring PTI leaders and workers as miscreants, the party did not hit back by calling the PML-N “murderer league”.