Rawalpindi police are scrambling to contain the fallout after a violent clash outside the city’s district courts left at least one person dead and several others injured yesterday. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership has rejected the official version of events, formally demanding a judicial inquiry to determine who opened fire.
The incident erupted during a chaotic protest yesterday afternoon. While police maintain the firing was a result of an internal skirmish between rival political factions, PTI leaders argue that plainclothes personnel were embedded within the crowd, intentionally escalating the situation.
“We aren’t interested in the police’s internal report,” said a senior PTI spokesperson during a press briefing late last night. “They are the ones who were supposed to provide security. Instead, they stood by while shots were fired. We want a judge to look at the footage and identify the shooters.”
The provincial government has announced a separate fact-finding committee, but trust remains thin. The injured, currently recovering at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, have provided conflicting accounts of the attackers’ identities. Some claim they were targeted by identified political workers; others insist the gunfire came from the direction of the police perimeter.
This clash is the latest flashpoint in an already volatile political climate. Rawalpindi—the garrison city that serves as the headquarters for the military—has seen security tightened significantly over the last 48 hours. Paramilitary forces are now patrolling key intersections, and Section 144 has been imposed to block any further gatherings near the court complex.
Local analysts suggest the incident is unlikely to remain a localized dispute. With tensions between the PTI and the ruling coalition at a breaking point, the demand for a judicial commission is being used as a wedge to force a larger investigation into the state’s handling of opposition rallies.
The police have registered a case against “unidentified persons,” a move the PTI has dismissed as a classic delaying tactic. Without a neutral inquiry, the party has warned of a nationwide protest movement, potentially bringing the city to a standstill by the end of the week.
The official autopsy report is expected tomorrow, which may offer the first concrete evidence on the caliber of the weapon used—a detail that could either validate the police’s claims or dismantle their narrative entirely.
