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Tag: may 9

  • Government report identifies multiple PTI leaders for May 9 protests

    Government report identifies multiple PTI leaders for May 9 protests

    The May 9 report from the caretaker government doesn’t just talk about the role of incarcerated Prime Minister Imran Khan in the riots but also reveals how multiple Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) leaders encouraged party workers to participate in violent protests. 

    The report revealed that on May 9, protests flared up at 300 locations in the country, going on to describe the role of every individual in the entire event.

    “Upon Mr Khan’s arrest, PTI leaders promptly took to social media to spread lies about Mr Khan’s custody and encourage people to violence. It was widely alleged that Mr Khan was being tortured and that he was likely to be assassinated. The language employed was sensationalist, inflammatory and it consistently encouraged violence,” said the report presented before the present cabinet a few days back.

    “Some instances of lies and incitement to violence by PTI leaders on that day are as follows. Hammad Azhar tweeted at 1437 hours to allege that Mr Khan was being tortured. Ms Zartaj expressed fear at 1510 hours that Mr Khan would be killed in custody. Murad Saeed tweeted at 1437 hours, 1444 hours and 1620 hours in which he, respectively, called PTI workers to gather at designated spots, not to let authorities torture and kill Mr Khan, and to make earth hell for those who consider themselves powerful. Farrukh Habib tweeted at 1651 hours asking people to lay down their lives but not let the police torture Mr Khan. Ali Amin Gandapur tweeted at 1712 hours telling workers it was now or never and to protect Khan with their lives. Ali Zaidi tweeted at 1623 hours and asked his workers to shut down the province (Sindh). Ms Anam Sheikh, Ms Shandana Gulzar Khan, Ms Kanwal Shauzab tweeted within a short span of each other encouraging people to protest at GHQ Rawalpindi. Senator Ejaz Chaudhary tweeted at 1428 hours calling all party workers to shut down the whole country. Faisal Javed tweeted at 1448 hours alleging Mr Khan was being tortured. Shahryar Afridi tweeted at 1536 hours implying that the traitors who had arrested Mr Khan had attacked the nation. Omar Malik tweeted a video message at 1555 hours encouraging people to march towards the residence of Corps Commander, Lahore.”

    “Shortly after Mr Khan’s arrest, certain foreign based vloggers uploaded video messages making unsubstantiated allegations of torture and encouraged people to attack state institutions. Many of these vloggers incited general public to attack military installations. Most alarmingly, they tried to incite rebellion amongst armed forces and encouraged army officers and jawans to revolt against their command. These vloggers included Adil Raja, Haider Mehdi, Wajahat Khan, Moeed Pirzada and Shaheen Sehbai. Adil Raja and Haider Mehdi encouraged army officers to revolt,” said the report.

  • No legal, moral justification to restrict Zartaj Gul from travelling: IHC

    No legal, moral justification to restrict Zartaj Gul from travelling: IHC

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday ordered a hearing on the request of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Zartaj Gul to remove her name from the Exit Control List (ECL) to allow her to go for Hajj.

    There is no legal or moral justification to restrict Gul from travelling, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri remarked in his order.

    The court, in its order, stated that the Interior Secretary should appoint a senior officer who knows about the law to assist the court, and the authorised officer should be aware of the facts of the case in the next hearing along with the relevant records.

    The state lawyer said during the hearing that the petitioner secured bail in multiple protest cases and was not absconding.

    On April 18, an anti-terrorism court granted Zartaj interim bail in the May 9 case. After the lawyers presented their arguments, the judge granted interim bail to the PTI leader until May 10.

  • Alvi wants people from both sides of country to forgive each other

    Alvi wants people from both sides of country to forgive each other

    Former president and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader, Dr Arif Alvi said on Wednesday that people from both sides of the political spectrum should forgive each other. This can be seen as an indirect message to the ‘poweful circles’ regarding the violent protests that occurred last on May 9.

    He gave this statement while talking to journalists after visiting an anti-terrorism court in Lahore, where he met multiple PTI leaders, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Omer Sarfraz Cheema, and Ejaz Chaudhary.

    On May 9 last year, law enforcement agencies arrested PTI founding chairman Imran Khan for the first time in connection with a corruption case, triggering violent riots across the country in which several installations of the security establishment were attacked.

    Arif Alvi assured PTI leaders during the meeting that they don’t need to worry about the cases as the people of Pakistan are with them.

    PTI senior woman leader Dr Yasmeen Rashid told Alvi to convey her message to PTI founder Imran Khan that she is happy despite facing multiple challenges in jail.

  • Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Faisal Vawda decide to remain single in Senate

    Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Faisal Vawda decide to remain single in Senate

    Former caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda announced on Tuesday that they will not join either the government nor opposition sides in the Senate. 

    The Senate Secretariat released a notification about the six independent senators in the senate and their decision to join a party.
    According to the issued notification, two out of the six senators, Kakar and Vawda, decided to not join any side in the Senate.

    Similarly, Senator Mohsin Naqvi, who is also a federal interior minister, was not sure about joining a side in the upper house.

    However, Naqvi’s name was mentioned as a senator on the treasury bench with an additional note of “(Federal Minister, however, not yet opted)”.

    Senator Abdul Qadir joined the government benches after winning the senate polls. The senator was initially part of PTI and then left the party after May 9.

  • ‘Kabhi apne baap se maafi nai mangi, kisi aur se kya mangni’ Asad Qaiser replies to DG ISPR

    ‘Kabhi apne baap se maafi nai mangi, kisi aur se kya mangni’ Asad Qaiser replies to DG ISPR

    Former speaker of the National Assembly and a senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Asad Qaiser, appeared on a talk show ‘Khabar’ with Meher Bokhari on ARY News and said that he refuses to apologise for the May 9 events.“We don’t even apologise to our fathers, why would we ask for forgiveness from anyone else,” he said.

    On May 7, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the people involved in the May 9 riots must be punished as per the law.

    The military spokesperson also said, “There can be no dialogue with an anarchist group,” he said firmly, adding that the “only way forward for the anarchists [group] is to apologise sincerely [for their acts], abandon the politics of hate and indulge in constructive politics [instead]”.

    Asad Qaiser stated that PTI wants the constitution and law to prevail in the country saying, “We want all citizens to have equal rights, for that all the institutions have to work within their constitutional limits.”

  • ‘No talks with anarchist group’ says DG ISPR

    ‘No talks with anarchist group’ says DG ISPR

    Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Tuesday that the people involved in the May 9 riots must be punished as per the law.

     “The issue of May 9 riots is not limited to the Pakistan Army but [in fact] concerns the whole nation,” said the General during a rare press conference.

    The military spokesperson also emphasized that dialogue should take place between the politicians rather than institutions and said, “No talks will be held with any political leader, or group which attacks its own army and indulges in propaganda [against them].”

    “There can be no dialogue with an anarchist group,” he said firmly, adding that the “only way forward for the anarchists [group] is to apologise sincerely [for their acts], abandon the politics of hate and indulge in constructive politics [instead]”.

    DG ISPR remarked, “For such people, it is said: ’ You can fool all the people some of the times, some of the people all the times but you cannot fool all the people all the times.’”

    When the General was asked about PTI’s demand of a judicial commission to probe the entire May 9 events, he replied, “Fine, we are ready, make a judicial commission but if you have to, then go to the root of this entire incident. The judicial commission should also determine what the goals of the 2014 dharna (sit-in) were and how Parliament was attacked. It should also look into the PTV attack and how people were encouraged to stand against the state, indulge in civil disobedience, and burn utility bills.”

    The Commission, the army spokesperson said, should also investigate “How Islamabad was attacked in 2016 with KP’s federal resources, and then again in 2022.”

    “It must also see how letters were written to the IMF and lobbying was conducted abroad so that Pakistan would not be given loans and fall into a state of default.”

    PTI’s response to DG ISPR’s press briefing

  • Imran Khan does not want to get out of Adiala Jail, says Shandana Gulzar

    Imran Khan does not want to get out of Adiala Jail, says Shandana Gulzar

    During a talk show with Nadir Gurmani at Dawn News, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shandana Gulzar remarked that Imran Khan does not want to come out of Adiala jail because he is safe under the supervision of jail authorities.

    When the anchor asked Shandana Gulzar about the lack of unity of party leadership on a one-point agenda that Imran Khan must get out of jail, she replied that the former Prime Minister does not believe in this agenda.

    “Only Imran Khan can set an agenda, nobody else. Khan has a three-point agenda; the first is to give us back our stolen mandate, the second is to release all PTI workers who have been arrested without any valid reasons and the third is to get our workers free from illegal military trials,” she stated.

    She said that Shehryar Afridi told Khan that they wanted him to get free, to which he replied “I don’t want to get out of jail. My priority is Pakistan so it does not disintegrate like Bangladesh.”

    “After God, Khan’s life is in the hands of jail authorities,” she said on the show, expressing concerns that there would be no guarantee of his safety if he gets shifted to sub-jail.

  • Supreme Court grants conditional permission for military courts to announce May 9 verdicts

    Supreme Court grants conditional permission for military courts to announce May 9 verdicts

    The Supreme Court of Pakistan has granted conditional permission to military courts to announce reserved verdicts in cases related to civilians allegedly involved in the May 9 riots.

    The directive came during a hearing on a set of intra-court appeals (ICAs) against the apex court’s previous ruling nullifying military trials of civilians connected to the riots.

    The six-member bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan and including Justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Azhar Hasan Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Musarrat Hilali, and Irfan Saadat Khan, presided over the proceedings.

    The case revolves around the trial of over 100 civilians accused of attacking army installations during riots following the arrest of ex-premier Imran Khan on May 9 of the preceding year.

    Last year, a five-member Supreme Court bench unanimously declared military trials of the accused civilians unconstitutional, directing their trial in criminal courts established under the ordinary or special law of the land.

    However, on December 13, the Supreme Court conditionally suspended its previous ruling pending final judgments on a set of ICAs. These appeals were filed by the then-caretaker federal government and provincial governments of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab. The defense ministry also filed an ICA seeking suspension of the ruling’s operation during the appeal process.

    During the hearing, the AGP also hinted at the possibility of 15 to 20 of the accused being released by the special courts. “A total of 105 accused are in the army’s custody,” he said.

    AGP Awan further said that there were three stages to the release of the suspects. The first step would be the pronouncement of the reserved judgements; the second would be its confirmation; and the third step would be for the army chief to give concessions to those with reduced sentences.

    The attorney general then urged the apex court to allow military courts to announce the reserved verdicts.

    “Even if permission is granted, it will be subject to the final decision on the appeals [against the Oct 23 ruling],” Justice Khan remarked.

    Justice Rizvi then inquired about the names of those who would be released. AGP Awan replied that the names could not be released until the military courts decided the cases.

    “Those whose punishment is one year will be given concessions,” the AGP said.

    Subsequently, the SC gave conditional permission to military courts to announce the reserved verdicts. It directed that judgments be announced in cases in which the nominated suspects could be released before Eid.

    The court also accepted the request from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to withdraw its appeal against the October 23 ruling. The hearing was adjourned until the fourth week of April, with the attorney general instructed to submit a report on the matter to the registrar.

  • Five May 9 suspects arrested again after bail from SC

    Five May 9 suspects arrested again after bail from SC

    Five workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) involved in the May 9 riots, who were earlier granted bail by the Supreme Court, have been arrested again under 16 MPO (Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960).

    The MPO order was issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Rawalpindi after which they were arrested. Last night, they were released from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after the suspects submitted their surety bonds.

    The five suspects — Owais, Saifullah, Nasrullah, Kamran and Waqas — were booked in the May 9 violence case registered at the New Tow Police Station.

    Scores of PTI workers were arrested across the country after the May 9 incident following the arrest of Imran Khan from court premises.

    Last week, a three member bench granted relief to five suspects and emphasized that authorities must differentiate who are the real terrorists. Their surety bonds were worth Rs 50,000 each.

  • Establishment wants  government of its choice, says Maulana Fazlur Rehman

    Establishment wants  government of its choice, says Maulana Fazlur Rehman

    Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, continues to be disgruntled after the 2024 nationwide elections, criticising the results. He predicted that the “system would collapse” because the establishment wants a government of its choice.

    While addressing a press conference in Peshawar on Tuesday, Maulana alleged that “the establishment wants assemblies and people in them of their choice.”

    “We received information before the elections that it has been decided to reduce the JUI-F’s inclusion [in the assemblies]. Different styles of rigging occurred in every polling station during the polls.”

    “If they think there was no rigging in the polls, then the May 9 narrative is apparently buried. They cannot run the country, and this system will collapse. Those who are sticking to the system will be crying in the coming days,” Fazl predicted.

    The JUI-F chief also said that there is no difference between the elections of 2018 and 2024, emphasising that a public representative should not be a “representative of the establishment.”