Impartial arbiter?

THE toxicity in the political arena is not only playing on a loop; every incident widens the trust deficit and ramps up the vitriol still further. Matters have come to a point where each side's version is almost violently at odds with that of the other and arriving at some compromise or consensus appears increasingly unlikely.

The press conference on Saturday by Punjab's caretaker chief minister and IG on the death of PTI worker Ali Bilal has further underscored this divide. Both officials maintained he was killed in a road accident, 'unfortunately misinterpreted', and that - contrary to the PTI leaders' claims - custodial torture was not to blame.

Bilal was one of the party activists picked up by police on Wednesday when the caretaker set-up decided to use force against those defying Section 144 imposed in Lahore to participate in a rally to launch PTI's campaign for the provincial elections.

The optics of PTI workers facing batons, water cannons and tear gas were bad enough, even before images of Bilal's battered body emerged later on social media. Party head Imran Khan alleged that the activist had been tortured to death in custody, a claim reinforced by the post-mortem report which recorded at least 26 injuries and stated that the deceased had been subjected to 'massive blunt trauma'.

The Punjab Police has a well-documented reputation of being a ruthless and unaccountable force for whom custodial torture is routine practice. Its conduct in this episode would hardly have changed public perceptions.

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