Category: National

Prominent journalist Matiullah Jan has been arrested alongside journalist Saqib Bashir from the parking lot of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital in Islamabad on Wednesday night.

Abdul Razaq Jan, son of Matiullah Jan, claimed in a video message that Saqib Bashir had been released after a while. However, his father was still “missing.”

Matiullah Jan’s son stated that he was informed about the “abduction” of his father by Saqib Bashir at around 4 AM.

Veteran journalist Hamid Mir took to X (formerly Twitter) to claim that Matiullah Jan was detained at Margalla Police Station.

“We are informed that he [Matiullah Jan] is required in an FIR along with Ali Amin Gandapur and Bushra Bibi,” Hamid Mir wrote.

However, no official response has been issued by the authorities.

Matiullah Jan was also apprehended during the PTI-led govt in July 2020 from Islamabad sector G-6 but was released after a while.

Aleema Khanum, sister of the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, criticised party leadership over the lack of proper guidance and absence of instructions to party followers during the recent protest at the federal capital.

Aleema Khanum, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), asked, “Why was the sound and light on the container shut early evening [on November 26]?

She complained that due to the absence of a sound system and lighting, “no instructions” were issued or guidance provided to the public in “complete darkness.”

“We pleaded all evening for the lights and sound on the container to be turned on, but there was no response from those giving directions,” former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khanum said.

However, she was not the only one who had complained about the lack of professional approach of party leadership; PTI leader Shaukat Yousafzai also pointed out the absence of coordination among the party leadership during the recent protest march.

Speaking to Geo News on Tuesday night, Shaukat Yousafzai emphasised, “Authority position holders have disappointed us.”

Yousafzai asked why the federal government’s offer for negotiations was not pursued? and why there was no consultation on the government’s proposal for talks?

Meanwhile, Attaullah Tarar, Minister for Federal Information and Broadcasting, on Wednesday stated that security forces had not used the weapon against demonstrators on Tuesday night, noting, “During PTI protest, government property was damaged.”

Rejecting the claims that more than 30 individuals had died in clashes between security forces in recent nights, he maintained that some people want to do politics on dead people without having “evidence.”

It should be noted here that following the Islamabad Police grand operation against PTI workers, the PTI founder’s wife, Bushra Bibi, KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur, and other PTI leaders and workers had managed to escape the federal capital.

A video of a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporter being pushed down by security personnel from atop three piled-up containers has gone viral on social media.

PTI official social media accounts shared the video and captioned it: “An innocent, unarmed protester was seen praying on a container when an armed paramilitary officer brutally pushed him off from a height equivalent to three stories. This shocking act of brutality raises profound questions: What did the officer, his superiors in the military, Mohsin Naqvi, and the PML-N hope to achieve through this horrifying display of violence and the countless other lives they have taken from their fellow citizens?” 

 
It was clear from the video that the man tried to hold on to the container, but he was pushed nonetheless and ultimately fell.

          View this post on Instagram                      

A post shared by The Current (@thecurrentpk)

 
Meanwhile, there is no information and official confirmation on the current status of the man who can be seen falling down. 

The video was recorded as PTI marched on the federal capital from November 24 to November 26, leading to violent clashes with law enforcement forces, causing the death of four Pakistan Rangers personnel and speculation of PTI supporters being killed as well.

However, the protest ended late last night after PTI leadership, including Member National Assembly Umar Ayub, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and incarcerated leader Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, left Islamabad.

Earlier, PTI leader Shoukat Yosafzai expressed disappointment with the party leadership over Tuesday’s final call protest as so many people had gone there and were left there by them. 

“It was the funeral of political culture in the country,” he said, pointing out that the government handled the protestors brutally. Moreover, he said that there is a need for self-analysis as well. He expressed disappointment over the lack of coordination within the party leadership during recent events, emphasizing missed opportunities for dialogue and poor decision-making. He also said that “no leader came forward except Ali Amin”, stressing that  “those holding positions of authority have disappointed us. Ali Amin Gandapur was made a scapegoat, and from Peshawar to Islamabad, no leader was visible.”

PTI leader Shaukat Yousafzai has been actively conducting interviews with channels to express disappointment with the party leadership over Tuesday’s final call protest.

Talking to ARY News, Shaukat Yousafzai confirmed that Bushra Bibi and Chief Minister KP Ali Amin Gandapur are in Mansehra and are safe.

“It was the funeral of political culture in the country,” he said, pointing out that the government handled the protestors brutally. Moreover, he said that there is a need for self-analysis as well. He expressed disappointment over the lack of coordination within the party leadership during recent events, emphasizing missed opportunities for dialogue and poor decision-making. He also said that “no leader came forward except Ali Amin”, stressing that  “those holding positions of authority have disappointed us. Ali Amin Gandapur was made a scapegoat, and from Peshawar to Islamabad, no leader was visible.”

He then turned his guns towards the main leaders. “Where were Barrister Gohar and Salman Akram Raja? Sher Afzal Marwat was also absent when the leadership did not have the authority to make decisions; why did it take so many workers?” 

Talking about Bushra Bibi’s role, he remarked, “She holds no political position, yet her stance overrules others.” He further questioned the absence of other leaders, asking, “Where was Salman Akram Raja, the General Secretary, during all this?”

In a frustrated tone, he lamented the exclusion of experienced party members from decision-making processes, saying, “Our opinions were ignored. If we are not considered politically relevant, remove us from the party.”

Shaukat Yousafzai further said that it was already known that the government would demonstrate fascism in D Chowk. He demanded an investigation within the party as to why D Chowk was chosen as the target area for a sit-in. 

The party’s former General Secretary then appeared on Geo News to raise the question of why, if the federal government had asked for talks, they were not held. “Why were consultations not held on the government’s offer of talks,” he asked in an exasperated tone. 

Notably, former party leader Faisal Vawda also held a press conference and called this the “final nail in the coffin of PTI” while warning of tougher times ahead for them and an impending ban on the party. 

On November 26, Islamabad Police announced a grand operation against PTI workers, as a result of which PTI leaders and workers, including the wife of PTI founder Bushra Bibi, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, left the federal capital for Mansehra and their press conference is awaited.

Senior journalist Muneeb Farooq on Monday revealed that a strict message was sent through Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership to incarcerated party founder Imran Khan regarding the party’s ongoing violent protest.

Muneeb Farooq, on his YouTube channel, stated that the party founder had been told to behave or face repercussions for altercations with law enforcement. 

On Monday night, Chairman PTI Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, along with former speaker of the  National Assembly Asad Qaiser and Shibli Faraz, met the party founder in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi to discuss the next strategy as the protest goes on. 

“Don’t listen to Bushra Bibi’s directions [on protest],” the journalist quoted the strict message that had also been conveyed to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders on November 25.

The political analyst further stated that both the establishment and the federal government had refused to accept PTI’s three demands.

PTI demanded the revocation of the recently passed 26th Constitutional Amendment and the release of political prisoners, including Imran Khan, and the restoration of PTI’s electoral mandate.

Last night, Naqvi seemed to confirm talks with the protesting opposition party, saying that the government had offered the Sangjani area for protest; however, reportedly, consensus was not reached between the government and Pakistan’s biggest opposition party.

The Sangjani was the same venue on the outskirts of the federal capital where the PTI held its Sept 8 rally.

Meanwhile, multiple PTI demonstrators have reached Islamabad’s roundabout D Chowk, and it can be seen that party followers are embracing security officials at the top containers of D Chowk in social media posts.

However, the PTI convoy led by Chief Minister (CM) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Ali Amin Gandapur and Imran Khan’s spouse Bushra Bibi crossed the federal capital Blue Area and was only a few Kilometers (KM) short of reaching D Chowk.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar has said that former First Lady Bushra Bibi was dead set on getting people killed.

Tarar alleged that Bushra Bibi used others’ children as pawns, noting, “There is still time to stop and go back.”