ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Tuesday formed a sub-committee to probe into the brutal use of force by the police against unarmed protesters to contain and impede Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s May 25 long march onto the capital.
The Senate standing committee on interior, which met here with Senator Mohsin Aziz in the chair, witnessed ugly scenes as the treasury and the opposition members exchanged harsh words as the government side kept saying the matter is sub judice, while members from the PTI sought an explanation from the police.
Despite the fact that the police used expired tear gas shells on the protesters, the Inspector General Islamabad Police, Akber Nasir Khan, who is accused of using expired tear gas shells on protesters denied the allegations.
The senators belonging to the PTI maintained that such brutal use of force was not even witnessed in the dictatorial regime of Gen Ziaul Haq as baton laden group of plain-clothed civilian men – with the backing of the policemen – kept attacking the PTI protesters which are shameful.
They said that the police entered people’s residences without court warrants, misbehaved with women, elderly, and the children which is not only illegal but also reflect the real mindset of Gen Ziaul Haq’s protégé.
Senator Shibli Faraz of the PTI came down hard on IG Islamabad Police for what he said behaving like personal servants of the Sharifs and said a public servant should not behave the way he dealt with the protesters to please his masters.
The PTI members also protested over the arrests of party workers by the police. They also accused the ICT police of showing reluctance in registering FIRs against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for misuse of state machinery to torture unarmed people.
Senator Azam Swati of the PTI said that he was beaten up by the police but the police are not registering any FIR despite, repeated attempts made by him.
He said that he will drag the IGP Islamabad to the court in case of any further delay in registering the FIR as he had already submitted an application to the Secretariat Police Station, but there has still been no progress on it.
The commissioner Islamabad, Amir Ali Ahmed, said that no arrests were made from Islamabad but he failed to defend the brutal use of force against the protesters especially women by the ICT police.
The IGP also denied use of rubber bullets against the protesters in the capital despite the fact that videos of police firing rubber bullets at protesters in Islamabad on the eve of May 25 to disperse the sit-in had gone viral on social media.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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