Viral Video Shows Pakistan Forces Pushing Praying Protester Off Containers

A video showing Pakistan's security forces pushing a man off a stack of shipping containers during a demonstration has surfaced online. According to The BBC, the incident occurred on Tuesday as thousands of former Prime Minister Imran Khan supporters converged in Islamabad to demand his release from prison. Top aides of Mr Khan said that the incident was one of several examples of police brutality at the demonstrations and has since called off the protests. The man had been praying on top of a container when armed officers approached him and "brutally pushed him off from a height equivalent to three storeys", Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said, per the outlet. 

The clip showed a man seemingly praying on top of a 25-foot-tall tower of shipping containers erected to block protesters from reaching their destination. Security forces are then seen following him to the top, surrounding him and then pushing him off the edge. 

Take a look below: 

Pakistani police throw man from three-story-high stack of shipping containers while he is praying pic.twitter.com/vjaVXza4Vb

— Bad Cops 🚨 (@CopsGoneWrong) November 27, 2024

According to The Independent, the condition of the man remains unknown. A PTI official said that the party was still investigating what happened to him. 

Meanwhile, Pakistan was marred by protests in the past few days. At least six people - four security forces and two civilians - died in the clashes during the protests. On Wednesday, police in Islamabad also said that 600 protesters had been arrested following Tuesday's operation, bringing the total since the protest sit-in began to over 1,000.

On Sunday, Imran Khan's party launched a march toward Islamabad, demanding the release of the jailed leader. Protesters said that they would not leave the capital until Mr Khan, who is in prison on several criminal charges including fraud, was freed. However, as they made their way to Democracy Square on Tuesday, they were pushed back by police firing tear gas. 

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On Wednesday, PTI said that the protests had been "temporarily suspended" due to the "government's brutality". It said Pakistan government forces had "launched a violent assault" on peaceful protesters "firing live rounds with the intent to kill as many people as possible". The party also claimed, without providing evidence, that several of their party workers were killed during the crackdown and appealed for an investigation. 

Law enforcement defended its actions, arguing that the protests had devolved into "terrorism" after security personnel were targeted and public property was damaged.

Notably, Imran Khan was arrested in 2023 over allegations that he and his wife Bushra Bibi accepted land as a bribe through a trust. Mr Khan also faces anti-terrorism charges tied to clashes that followed his arrest. Other allegations include unlawfully disclosing state secrets in 2022, for which he was acquitted, and an unlawful marriage in 2018, also resulting in acquittal.