Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Saturday said that the man seen in a viral video falling from a container during a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest in Islamabad is “completely fine.”
Speaking to the media, Tarar said that the man sustained minor injuries in the incident, as reported by Dawn.
The viral video, shot during a protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk, shows men, dressed as security personnel with riot gear, pushing a man off a stack of three shipping containers.
The PTI supporters were demanding the release of their leader and party chief, Imran Khan.
The protests turned violent on November 26, and PTI supporters were met with intense tear gas shelling by security forces.
According to Dawn, a photographer captured a picture showing a man hanging off the edge of a container while men in uniform stood above him.
A video of the incident also went viral, sparking various claims on social media, with some posts alleging that the man had died.
Refuting these claims, Minister Tarar said, “Propaganda was spread that a person offering prayers was killed by being pushed down. He is a resident of Mandi Bahauddin and is completely fine. His video has emerged; he sustained an arm injury and has bandages.”
Tarar further claimed that the man was recording a TikTok video as part of a challenge with a friend and was not offering prayers at the time, as reported by Dawn.
Earlier, Awami National Party (ANP) President Aimal Wali Khan called for a ban on political parties that incite violence, including PTI, Dawn reported.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi at the ANP central secretariat in Wali Bagh on Friday, Khan said that PTI has been working in an undemocratic and nonpolitical manner since its formation and it has always encouraged people to behave in a violent manner.
He labelled PTI as “waste that should be disposed of” and said that the state had imposed PTI on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the past 12 years but such decisions did not give good results, as reported by Dawn report.