In a press conference on May 8, Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) squarely held the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) responsible for attacking military installations and causing harm to the country’s national interest on May 9. On the same day, PTI’s Central Information Secretary termed the charges levied by the DG ISPR as a ‘pack of lies’ and argued that the government in the last year has failed to provide any tangible evidence for the involvement of PTI workers and leaders in the violence that occurred on May 9. In a statement from jail on May 8, PTI founder Imran Khan raised several questions related to the allegations by the DG ISPR, and lamented that the pretext of May 9, which Khan described as a ‘false flag operation,’ a brutal crackdown was launched against the PTI, which is still continuing to this day.

The events of May 9, 2023 were triggered when Chairman PTI and former Prime Minister Imran Khan was mercilessly pulled from color by the Rangers from the premises of Islamabad High Court and put in a prison van. The images of Khan’s manhandling by the security forces led to protests and demonstrations in all major cities of Pakistan, in which 25 PTI workers were shot dead; several were injured and 13,000 people were arrested. The attack on the Corps Commander House in Lahore took place when there was a conspicuous absence of security forces in that red zone, whereas the attacks on other military installations occurred in the absence of proper security details. The killing of 25 PTI workers on May 9, and no casualties among the security forces at the hands of PTI protestors tends to raise doubts and suspicions about the official narrative of May 9. Prominent PTI leaders were arrested under the pretext of the violence that took place on May 9. Dozens were forced to hold press conferences condemning the events of May 9 and announcing their resignation from PTI. No political party in Pakistan’s history, except maybe the Pakistan People’s Party, when it faced state repression during the martial law years of General Zia-ul-Haq, has faced the brunt of state persecution which the PTI has endured.

Who benefited from the events of May 9 and who bore the brunt of state repression following that episode is not difficult to gauge? Instead of holding a transparent judicial inquiry to probe why there was no security in highly sensitive areas, such as the Corps Commander’s House in Lahore and other military installations which were attacked by unknown persons under the guise of PTI supporters, the........

© The Friday Times