PTI yet to condemn attack on state properties

KARACHI: While the PTI leadership has reiterated that it does not stand for violence, the party has as yet not openly condemned the acts of violence, vandalism and arson that erupted on Tuesday and Wednesday across major cities in the country.

Responding to a question by Geo News regarding the violence in Lahore and Pindi on Tuesday — including the attack on the Corps Commander House in Lahore, the breaching of the GHQ vicinity, and the attacks on the police force — PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that it has never been the PTI’s policy to incite or instigate violence. On being asked by Geo News if he condemned the violence, Qureshi repeated that it has been the PTI’s policy over years to stay peaceful in its rallies and protests, adding that Tuesday’s violence was the doing of ‘state elements’ who he said had been tasked to conduct the violence.

On once again being asked if he condemned the incidents that took place during the protests, Qureshi said that he condemned the maneuverings and machinations of state officials. When asked -- yet again -- if he condemned what they did he said he condemned those behind the violence and condemned what he said was ‘state media’ that was giving the violence a ‘colour’ that tainted the PTI and aimed to blame it for the violence.

Earlier, speaking to Geo News Asad Umar (who has since been arrested) also commented on who was ‘behind’ the violence unleashed on state buildings and other areas on Tuesday. Calling it an “interesting” development that needs to be looked into, Umar wondered whether via a properly planned conspiracy people had been taken to these sites to protest and vandalize so that then these acts could then be blamed on the PTI. He reiterated that the PTI’s instructions (also by Imran Khan, he added) to its supporters were to remain peaceful. On being asked by the Geo News reporter whether the military can be targeted in such protests, Asad Umar refused to answer the question.

Through the day on both Tuesday and Wednesday official Twitter accounts of the PTI continued to upload details of arrests and what they say was state high-handedness with their leaders and supporters. There was no official condemnation on any of the social media accounts of the party whether about the fire at Radio Pakistan in Peshawar or the torching of an Edhi ambulance or the attack on Jinnah House in Lahore. The official Twitter account of the PTI did however put up a video saying: “Beware of these namaloom afrads in your protests. This man, who turned out to be from government agencies, was instigating our supporters to be violent, posing as a PTI supporter; when challenged, he did not know who his MPA was. He then ran away.”

Journalist and political commentator Nasim Zehra agrees that there hasn’t been much of an unequivocal condemnation by the PTI regarding the violence of the past two days: “After the violence in Lahore and Peshawar, we saw PTI leaders reiterate that the PTI believed in peaceful protest. But they were asked directly by journalists whether they condemned what had happened in Lahore. While they kept reinforcing that violence is not the PTI’s creed, there wasn’t really any direct condemnation.”

Raza Rumi, editor of The Friday Times-NayaDaur, agrees that “The acts of violence carried out by PTI activists have not been condemned by the leadership and the efforts to distance the party from attacks on military installations have not been successful.” He feels that “The brewing tensions between the military and the PTI have reached a point of no return.”

Nasim Zehra reads the lack of condemnation as thus: “I guess they have found it difficult [to do so] in this situation -- where they need support and show of strength. It seems they don’t want to be seen as criticizing their own supporters. As we can see, even now -- 24 hours later -- PTI protesters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Punjab are enraged and are still burning down facilities, going into offices whether the ECP in Peshawar or Radio Pakistan in Peshawar -- so it may be tough for PTI leaders to come out and completely condemn their workers at a time when they need their protests too.”

Journalist and political analyst Mehmal Sarfraz is not surprised that the PTI and its leaders have not condemned these attacks “despite distancing themselves from ‘violence’”. She feels that they probably “don’t want to offend their supporter base, especially those who came out in support of Khan on the streets on Tuesday. If they condemn these attacks unequivocally -- and without any ifs and buts -- it would look like they’re backtracking from the messaging that they have been painstakingly working on for the last one year.”

For Rumi, the explanation behind the lacklustre words of condemnation is that: “It seems [the PTI] had decided that should Imran Khan be arrested the military would be directly challenged. The muted or half-hearted condemnation appears to be a part of a calculated strategy to rule public opinion against the military junta headed by the COAS.”

Explaining that the “dramatic and unfortunate events of May 9 have directly pitted the PTI against the powerful military establishment”, Rumi adds that “emerging video and audio evidence establishes that these attacks were orchestrated with the full knowledge of the second-tier leadership [of the PTI]”.