Islamabad, May 9: Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership Thursday strongly condemned the unprecedented violence by the supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on May 9 last year and vowed not to allow its ”executors” to get away with their acts which were aimed at establishing an ”individual’s dictatorship”.
On May 9 last year, violent protests erupted after the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan by paramilitary Rangers from the premises of the Islamabad High Court. His supporters vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander house), Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army headquarters in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time.
On the first anniversary of the riots, the Pakistan Army issued a statement saying its entire leadership “strongly condemn the criminal acts perpetrated on 9th May 2023″.
Terming May 9 (Black Day) as one of the ”darkest days in our national history”, the Inter-Services Public Relations – the media wing of the army – said that the politically motivated and brainwashed miscreants in an act of rebellion deliberately resorted to violence against state institutions and vandalised sacred symbols of the state and the sites belonging to national heritage.
The army said that after failing to undermine national harmony and stability, the planners, facilitators and executors of this conspiracy embarked upon a sinister campaign of hate against the Armed Forces and the state with an intent to twist the narrative to their advantage and shift the blame on the state institutions.
”It is precisely for this reason there can neither be any compromise with the planners, facilitators and executors of the 9th May tragedy nor they would be allowed to hoodwink the law of land,” it said.
”Bringing the real culprits of 9th May to justice is paramount to ensure that in future, no one dares to desecrate the memories of our heroes and the symbols of our unity through such unwarranted conduct in future,” it added.
Addressing a meeting of the cabinet, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the real aim of the May 9 violence was to end democracy and establish kingship and an ”individual’s dictatorship”.
He said that the May 9 violence was not just a rebellion against Pakistan but against the state, including the army and its chief Gen Asim Munir to create a divide in the country.
”There can absolutely be no soft-pedalling of what happened on May 9 and there can be no absolution for those who orchestrated, supported, and assisted the attempt to damage the foundations of our nation,” he said in a post on X.
In a message, President Asif Ali Zardari said, “May 9, 2023, will always be remembered as a dark day in Pakistan’s history when a politically instigated mob ran amok across the country, damaging public property and military installations.” Condemning the violence, he said that the incidents “severely tarnished” the country’s image and thus only “served the interests of Pakistan’s enemies”.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the accountability of the perpetrators and conspirators of the May 9 violent acts would be taken to its logical conclusion because the characters behind the violence were known to everybody.
Information Minister Atta Tarar said there was evidence about who was involved in the May 9 acts, emphasising that these need to be brought to justice.
The violence was also condemned by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz who emphasized ”bringing the plotters to justice was necessary”.
Pakistan Peoples Party chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari condemned the May 9 acts as “yet another dark chapter in the nation’s history”. He said the “instigator behind the strongly condemnable events of May 9 is well-known to everyone”.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan refused to apologise for the May 9 riots, a day after the military ruled out dialogue with his party unless they tendered a public apology over the unprecedented violence.
Khan, who spoke to the media after the court proceedings in the 190 million pounds Al Qadir corruption case at Adiala jail on Wednesday, said that he was ready to face an inquiry into the sit-in that his Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf party staged in 2014.
”I condemned the May 9 incidents in front of (former) chief justice Umar Ata Bandial,” the 71-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician said when asked whether he would apologise for the May 9 violence.
Khan has been incarcerated since August last year after he was booked in several cases ranging from corruption to violating the Official Secrets Act. Following the May 9 violence last year, Imran Khan and hundreds of his party workers are being tried under multiple cases, including one under the stringent Official Secrets Act in connection with the violence.
The government organised several events on the first anniversary of May 9 violence to honour victims whose monuments were defiled by the protestors.
A heavy contingent of police was deployed outside the residence of Imran Khan in Lahore and his party offices across Punjab province to prevent any protest by the party on the first anniversary of the May 9 violence.
PTI Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan said the government launched a crackdown against his party workers to stop them from taking to the streets but they would hold demonstrations. ”Regardless of the crackdown, peaceful rallies and protests will be held all across Pakistan in the morning (of May 9),” he said.
A Punjab police officer told Press Trust of India that Khan’s party would not be allowed to hold any rally in the province on May 9.
Authorities in Islamabad have declared all gatherings as illegal.
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