PTI's Nov 24 protest: A nightmare that shook the nation
Pakistan
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is fast becoming a party that only wants chaos
LAHORE (Web Desk) – Since the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has staged several protests and rallies, which have hindered economic development and business activity in the country.
Many people believe that PTI is carrying forward the agenda of anti-state elements by hampering the economic development of the country.
The latest protest was staged in Islamabad on Nov 24 at a time when a high-profile foreign delegation was in Pakistan.
The party staged a protest in Islamabad on Nov 24 at a time when high-profile foreign delegation was in Pakistan.
The government offered PTI to stage a sit-in at the outskirts of Islamabad but the party remained adamant to siege the federal capital.
ISLAMABAD UNDER SIEGE
Islamabad remained at a standstill for several days as normal life was disturbed due to the protest and sit-in of PTI.
The PTI workers coming from Peshawar were demanding the release of their detained leader Imran Khan.
It merits mention here that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Nov 21 directed the federal government to take all necessary steps to maintain law and order in the federal capital.
The IHC directed the interior minister to engage with the PTI leadership in this regard.
Also Read: Why does PTI protest during foreign delegates' visits? questions Ishaq Dar
The PTI violated the court’s orders blatantly and instead of holding protest at designated place (Sangjani), unlawfully breached entry towards the Red Zone of Islamabad.
Throughout the protest march from Peshawar to Red Zone Islamabad, violent protestors of PTI aggressively engaged LEAs repeatedly using firearms and all sorts of other weapons including steel sling shots, stun grenades, tear gas shells and nail studded batons to force their way to Red Zone Islamabad.
MISUSE OF KP’S RESOURCES
This violent protest was primarily orchestrated and logistically supported by the resources of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.
The taxpayer money was used to launch an attack on Islamabad – the capital of the country.
The vehicles, cranes, funds and other machinery was also used by the KP’s government during the protest in Islamabad.
Alarmingly, PTI’s protest included violent and trained miscreant elements including many illegal Afghan nationals who spearheaded the riots and violent activities throughout the march.
These miscreants, employed as violent vanguard, comprised approximately 1500 hard core fighters working directly under absconder and proclaimed offender Murad Saeed.
This vanguard group, using militant tactics violently attacked the LEAs and breached the blocks with the help of government machinery paving the way for the second wave of vehicles and protestors to cross.
It is very unfortunate that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was in Islamabad just to create unrest at a time when dozens of people were killed in Kurram district of KP.
DISSEMINATING FAKE NEWS
Unfortunately, social media accounts of PTI resorted to planned and coordinated massive fake propaganda of deaths during the protest.
The major hospitals of Islamabad after due diligence rubbished reports of alleged gun shots casualties inflicted by LEAs.
Read More: No weapon was used to disperse miscreants in PTI protest: interior ministry
A fabricated social media campaign was run by using old and AI generated clips.
There were multiple false claims of deaths ranging from tens to hundreds to thousands on social media.
The government functionaries including ministers had refuted all such claims disseminated on social media.
Senior PTI leaders like Hammad Azhar took to social media to incite the youth by using fake images.
The party hasn’t given yet any proof of deaths earlier claimed on social media by PTI’s activists.
The #IslamabadMassacre hashtag was also used by PTI to spread false claims of death.
The people like Imran Riaz Khan also used such hashtags and shared the unverified pictures from his account.
It is really unfortunate that the images of Gaza carnage were also used by the social media of PTI to disseminate the fake agenda.
DIPLOMATIC DAMAGE
The government had repeatedly tried to convince the PTI leadership to call off the protest in the wake of Belarusian president visit to Pakistan.
Repeated attempts were made to woo the PTI leadership but in vain.
A high-level delegation of China also cancelled its visit due to the protest in November.
More to Read: Pakistan incurring Rs190bn loss daily due to protests: FinMin Aurangzeb
The protests and rallies of PTI had severely hampered the investment and business activities in Pakistan.
Earlier, the party wanted to hold sit-in at a time when Pakistan was hosting the SCO summit in Islamabad after several years.
Dr Alexandra Caldwell, an expert in global governance and political systems, had recently published her findings, drawing parallels between the January 6th Capitol Hill incident and PTI’s Islamabad protest.
She stated, “The November 2024 protests in Pakistan are a stark reminder of how political unrest in one nation can disrupt economic ties, diplomatic relations, and governance frameworks. Social media has become a tool for disinformation and division.”
ECONOMIC LOSS
It is an established fact that economic stability cannot be achieved without political stability.
According to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan faced Rs190billion loss daily due to the protests taken out by the PTI.
The minister said protests disturbed businesses, reduced tax collections and forced the government to spend extra money on security to maintain law and order.
He said GDP suffered Rs144billion loss daily due to the protest rally and exports faced Rs22billion loss daily, adding IT and Tele-Come sectors suffered huge loss.
“Foreign direct investment was also affected, causing a loss of Rs3 billion daily,” he said.
The loss faced by the provinces in the industrial sector is more than Rs20 billion, he added.
A similar warning was also echoed by the State Bank as it highlighted the adverse impact of political unrest and uncertainty on the economy.
“The economy continues to grapple with structural bottlenecks in spite of some improvements in the macroeconomic indicators,” it said.
“Political uncertainty exacerbates the situation through inconsistency in economic policies, weak governance and public administration. This underscores the need for policy reforms to ensure sustainable development over the medium- to long-term,” the central bank added.
All the stakeholders including the government and opposition should first think of this country before doing politics.
