Pak govt forms task force against ‘malicious campaign’ following PTI claims of protesters’ deaths

Islamabad, Dec 2 (PTI) The Pakistan government has formed a joint task force (JTF) to identify those involved in a “massive malicious campaign” against the state authorities in the wake of a recent protest by Imran Khan’s party, it emerged on Monday.
     The development comes amid claims by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that at least 12 party supporters died in Islamabad as a result of firing by law enforcement agencies (LEAs) when they were forcibly removed on the intervening night of November 27 and 28.
     However, the governed vehemently rejected the PTI’s claims and in a statement on Sunday clarified that police and paramilitary security personnel were not armed with “live ammunition”.
     On Sunday, the Interior Ministry accused the PTI of “planned and coordinated massive fake propaganda of deaths caused by LEAs”, saying it was using old and AI-generated visuals.
     A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday cited “recent incidents of terrorism and vandalism”, following which a “campaign has been orchestrated to discredit the State of Pakistan in general and security forces in particular”.
     “Multiple domestic and foreign-based media platforms are being used to perpetrate concocted, baseless and inciting news implicating the government of committing serious human rights violations,” the statement said.
     It contended that the campaign aimed to create a “serious law and order situation” and instigate “provincialism and ethnic cleavages for specific vested political interests”.
     “To attract a foreign audience, perpetrators of this inimical campaign attempted to create serious human rights violations through fictitious violent images and contents,” the PMO said.
     Consequently, the premier formulated the JTF to “inquire and pursue defaulters”, it added.
     According to the PMO, the JTF’s volition would be to “identify individuals, groups and organisations involved in creating and spreading fake and misleading news surrounding political miscreants in Islamabad from November 24-27 including the entire media campaign related to the issue”.
     It would “track and trace individuals and groups, whether in Pakistan or abroad, involved in this malicious campaign and bring them to justice as per law”.
     The task force would also suggest measures to bridge policy gaps and shall present its findings within 10 days, bringing perpetrators to justice “at the earliest”.
     The JTF would be headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman (Retd) General Major Hafeezur Rehman, and comprise eight others, as well as “any other member(s) co-opted” by the body.
     The body would comprise the joint secretaries of the Interior and Information ministries, the director of the Federal Investigation Agency’s cybercrime wing, the IT director of the Information Technology Ministry, the Intelligence Bureau joint director, the Islamabad police chief, as well as a representative each from Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence.
     The JTF formation also follows the recent constitution of a separate task force to identify and act against individuals who were allegedly involved in violence during the PTI’s protest.
     Khan, 72, who has been in jail since August 2023, on November 13 issued a “final call” for nationwide protests on November 24, demanding the restoration of the PTI’s electoral mandate, the release of detained party members and the reversal of the 26th Amendment, which he said had strengthened a “dictatorial regime”.
     A day of pitched battles between security forces and PTI protesters across the federal capital ended in a hasty retreat of the party’s top leadership and supporters from Islamabad in the early hours of Wednesday last week.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)