The politics of denial has long been a defining feature of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s response to May 9, 2023. For nearly two years, the party’s leadership has oscillated between selective amnesia and outright conspiracy, seeking refuge in rhetorical outrage while sidestepping the central question: who planned, facilitated, and legitimised the unprecedented attacks on state institutions? The latest forensic findings from the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory (PFSL) bring this question back into sharp focus – and this time, with evidence rather than slogans.

According to the PFSL’s verification report, the presence of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, along with senior PTI figures Kamran Bangash, Taimur Jhagra, and Irfan Saleem, has been confirmed in video footage related to the May 9 violence in Peshawar. The material, submitted by Police Station Sharqi on the orders of the Anti-Terrorism Court, underwent frame-by-frame audio-visual scrutiny. The conclusion is unambiguous: the individuals seen in the footage match their verified profile images.

It is worth underlining what this represents. May 9 was not a spontaneous eruption of public anger. The attacks on Radio Pakistan, toll plazas, and emergency ambulances were coordinated acts of destruction aimed squarely at symbols........

© Daily Times