What unfolded on X around #سانحہ_مریدکے100دن was not a breaking-news moment. It was a rerun. The same sequence, the same pauses, the same dramatic reveal after weeks of denial. First comes silence. Then “wait & watch.” And finally, a carefully timed announcement that someone has been “arrested”—often from a city far removed from where the public believes custody began.
At the center of the current noise is Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and claims around the Rizvi brothers. Multiple posts—some anonymous, some from known partisan handles—state that Ans Rizvi and his brother were already in custody since October 13, kept under undeclared detention for months, and only now “shown” as arrested from Dera Ismail Khan. The timing matters. So does the choreography.
The allegation pattern is consistent: TLP’s internal shoora allegedly confirmed custody weeks earlier; social media trended with claims that Saad Rizvi was already with agencies; then came a counter-narrative—an arrest announcement focusing on a different name, a different location, and a conveniently vague confirmation. For critics, this is not law enforcement transparency; it’s narrative management.
Language on X escalated quickly—from skepticism to outright abuse, from “fake news” accusations to violent metaphors. That escalation itself is part of the problem. When official communication is delayed or selective, the vacuum fills with rumor, rage, and recycled talking points. The result is polarization rather than clarity.
There’s also a procedural question that won’t go away. If the matter was as straightforward as claimed, why didn’t CCD Punjab handle it cleanly, promptly, and on record? Why the months-long gap between alleged custody and public disclosure? These aren’t fringe questions; they are governance basics.
Muridke’s tragedy is now 100 days old. At this mark, the public deserves facts that are verifiable, timelines that are coherent, and statements that don’t contradict last week’s trends. Anything less looks like what critics are calling it: predictable.
