Midnight crackdown A massacre that left hundreds dead: Imran Khan’s sister Aleema | Exclusive

Last updated:Nov 29, 2024 5:40 PM IST

We are told many people are dead and the number could be as high as 200. It’s a massacre, says Aleema Khanum on the crackdown on D Chowk

Ameena Khanum mourned the tragic deaths of protesters. (News18)

Aleema Khanum, sister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, termed the government’s crackdown on protest a “massacre by the Pakistani army”. She said that contrary to official figures, 200 to 300 people were killed in the D Chowk protests.

PTI supporters took on law enforcement agencies and managed to reach the D Chowk for a sit-in as part of their protest march that started on Sunday. However, the Pakistan Army cracked down on them on Monday midnight.

Bushra Bibi and Gandapur had announced that the protesters would not leave until Khan, who made the ‘last call’ for protest, was released from jail, while security personnel continued their efforts to shift them from the D-Chowk, which was is in prison. close to several important government buildings: the Presidency, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Parliament and the Supreme Court.

The 72-year-old former prime minister, who has been in prison since August last year, made a “last call” on November 13 for nationwide protests on November 24, denouncing what he called the stolen mandate, the unjust arrests of people and the passage of the 26th Amendment, which he says has strengthened a “dictatorial regime.”

Excerpts from the interview:

There are reports that hundreds or thousands of people have been killed, but the government insists only six were killed in the crackdown…

Actually, right now, even after 24 hours, I’m in total shock. It’s incredible. These were ordinary people. People have a constitutional right to come to the capital to protest. They sat. We were there. There were families, women and children. These people did not come to cause a commotion. They are not terrorists. They came for their rights and they have the right to protest. They were on their way in the middle of the night. Tear gas is one thing. Around 3:30 p.m., people told me that live bullets were being fired from the buildings around the main road. They shot people. I’ve met people who had bullets in their shoulders and in their legs, and this is at 3:30 PM! They turned off all the lights. They hijacked the container, which was equipped with lights and sounds to guide people to leave.

Tear gas is acceptable. People know that the authorities use tear gas. But live bullets, not even rubber bullets, came at us.

How many people lost their lives?

There were some people who took the bodies to the other province in Kp. They arrested the person. Their people, some of whom have died, come from Balochistan, from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The authorities actually hijacked the bodies.

So you’re saying that Army Chief Asif Munir is completely in charge, and not that the elected PDM government…

The problem is that they are all responsible for it. You cannot deny yourself from anything or excuse yourself from anything. They cannot deny themselves of what happened. Each of them is responsible. Whether it is Mohsen Naqvi who sent out a tweet, if you look at his tweet, the man should be ashamed of himself. They threatened to arrest us. But you kill innocent people in the…dark! It was so dark. The shooting came from everywhere. I don’t think even those who were shooting understood what they were doing because they were shooting point blank into the darkness. Many people have died.

You say 200 to 300 people died?

We are told that many people are dead, and the number could be as high as 200. It is a massacre.

Are you saying this was a complete revolution?

It could be 200 to 300 dead, and we don’t have a count yet. They hide the bodies. They hijacked the bodies. But this is a tragedy that has caused such a great shock. It’s a bloodbath. They killed people in the middle of the night.

The demonstrators were on the green areas and on the roads. At 1:30 am no one could do anything but sleep or rest. They were exhausted. But you slaughtered them?

I think a revolution will happen when people decide that we will not accept a system of tyranny. That’s a revolution. And Imran Khan, who spent a year and a half in jail for fake cases, when he was about to be released, spent two and a half years in court. The judges weren’t that bad. They also tried to rebel against the system of tyranny… Things are so bad that they had to give him relief. They said that on the day he was about to be released, they charged him with another case of protesting on September 28. While in prison, he was accused of being responsible for inciting a protest in which a police officer’s buttons and shirt buttons were ripped off, and a car that was about to be set on fire never burned. This is his job. He is now in prison. He is in jail for that charge.

So what does Imran Khan want now?

Khan’s demand was to release the illegally arrested protesters. It wasn’t about him. He repeatedly said, “Release all illegally arrested prisoners.” That’s all he asked for. But the people themselves kept saying, ‘We are coming for Imran Khan.’

Imran Khan’s call was to his people: “You stand up for three.” He has stated three conditions all along. You do not subjugate the judiciary. The Supreme Court, he says, has been hijacked. They have changed the rulings and regulations. In any country, you saw it in Israel, when they made some changes in the judiciary, everyone came to protest every weekend. That’s how people express their opinions. What’s wrong with people in Pakistan trying to express their opinions? They were just expressing their feelings about their own country, they are citizens of this country. They are not enemies. First, release all illegally arrested people. Secondly, a judiciary, the rule of law, the establishment of the rule of law. You may not hijack and subjugate the judiciary. And third: return the stolen mandate. The election commission has to make a decision.

It is so egregious and it should be decided by judges, by judicial commissions, by a team of judges who will make a decision because the evidence is all with the Electoral Commission. What’s wrong with these requirements? They are nothing personal. All his demands are for the country. And that’s why people came out. You don’t slaughter people. This was genocide. It was a massacre. We are so heartbroken. I’m telling you, I can’t move. When I thought about what they had done last night, it was pitch black. There was no light. They turned off every street lamp, every light on the road. It was so dark and this slaughter took place in total darkness.

Is there a backchannel working on Imran Khan’s release?

It is a tragic day with the deaths of all those people. They were just innocent people, they came from all over Pakistan. We are heartbroken over this tragedy. The government has sealed the hospitals, no one has access to them. No one knows where the dead are, they want to make sure no one finds out and people are currently looking for their loved ones. In the coming days they will incite people. What will happen next is out of anyone’s control… And all that’s being reported on all the national news channels is that a police officer was injured because a rock was thrown at him. That’s the biggest tragedy in discussion on national television, all of which are completely under the control of the establishment. I say they will most likely put me in jail. I should be taken to jail too…

Any plan to go to court against police atrocities?

Which court? That has already been submitted. They won’t let us. With one hand they try to offer and plead, and with the other hand they abuse. They slaughtered Pakistanis. There’s a reaction to it that I have no idea about.

Have you spoken to Imran Khan recently?

He’s in jail, no one can see him. For two days they canceled his court appearance. The cities were sealed. No one could leave the city, even halfway across a city. The prison was clearly closed and all roads were closed. Lahore was sealed. We haven’t seen him.