May 9 a dark day in Pak's history as Imran Khan's supporters committed terrorism: Sharif

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the May 9 vandalism and slammed PTI chief Imran Khan’s supporters. On Sunday, Sharif chaired a meeting on the law and order situation in Pakistan. The meeting was organised in Lahore, where Sharif stated that whoever was involved in the incident will be dealt with “Iron hand”. Things started to escalate after the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan on May 9. Khan was arrested by Pakistan Rangers from outside the Islamabad High Court for his alleged involvement in the Al-Qadir Trust Case. This led to violent protests across the country and Pakistan’s military infrastructure was also ransacked by the protestors. He then went on to call May 9 a “black day” and condemned whatever happened after Khan was released by the country’s Supreme Court.   

“May 9 will be remembered as a dark day in the history of Pakistan. On that day, on the order of Imran Niazi, terrorism was committed by his groups and unfortunately, they did what even the enemy could not do in 75 years,” Sharif asserted as he chaired the meeting. “On that day there were countless horrific incidents that will forever haunt the entire nation. So it was decided that anyone involved in the planning, instigation, even if he used foul language. Raise slogans and even if he was involved in vandalism, no one will be able to escape from the iron hands of the law,” Sharif added. He further accused the PTI chief and his followers of stoking terror and violence in the country. 

9 مئی کو پاکستان کی تاریخ میں ایک سیاہ دن کے طور پہ یاد رکھا جائے گا اس دن عمران نیازی کے حکم پر ان کے جتھوں کی طرف سے دہشتگردی کی گئی اور بدقسمتی سے وہ کام کردکھایا جو 75 سال میں دشمن بھی نہ کرسکا.وزیراعظم شہبازشریف pic.twitter.com/w3oBELyvKo

— PMLN (@pmln_org)

اُس دن ایسے بے شمار ہولناک واقعات ہوئے جو کہ ہمیشہ کیلیے پوری قوم کو ہمیشہ ذہنی کوفت میں مبتلا رکھیں گے.لہٰذا یہ طے ہوا تھا کہ کسی شخص کو چاہے وہ منصوبہ بندی میں شامل ہے , اکسانے میں شامل ہے , چاہے اس نے غلیظ گالیاں دی نعرے لگوائے اور چاہے وہ توڑ پھوڑ میں شامل تھا کوئی بھی قانون… pic.twitter.com/XCCIPQ4rEA

— PMLN (@pmln_org)

‘Not a Joke’ 

In the meeting which was televised for the people of Pakistan, the country’s Prime Minister sought progress on the legal proceeding against the culprits. Sharif also talked about the vandalism that was caused to the country’s Air Force installation and insisted that this is “not a joke”. “It is not a joke that terrorists attack Air Force installations in Karachi and damage property worth billions of rupees and Imran Niazi's group reaches Mianwali and steals our aircraft which have earned the nation's blood and sweat to be used against the enemy,” Sharif exclaimed. “Make a sinister attempt to burn them bought from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif,” he added. 

یہ بات کوئی مذاق نہیں ہے کہ دہشتگرد کراچی میں ایئرفورس کی تنصیبات پہ حملہ کریں اور اربوں روپے کی املاک کو نقصان پہنچائیں اور عمران نیازی کے جتھے میانوالی پہنچ کر ہمارے ان ہوائی جہازوں کو جو دشمن کے خلاف استعمال کرنے کیلیے قوم کی خون پسینے کی کمائے سے خریدے گئے انہیں جلانے کی… pic.twitter.com/F92rSID5sa

— PMLN (@pmln_org)

Meanwhile, Khan slammed the ruling Pakistani administration and described the mayhem as “one-sided propaganda”. “An organised propaganda is being carried out — there was an organised conspiracy, which was planned to eliminate the PTI. Because the PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) knows they cannot beat PTI in elections. So a conspiracy and plan were devised to ban the party by blaming the party [for May 9 vandalism],” Khan asserted. 

He stated that the PTI was not given a chance to even explain its stance on the riots. “They caught me, then suspended internet services and controlled the entire media. And soon after, one-sided propaganda of the PTI’s [alleged] atrocities was being played out in the controlled media. They did not give us a chance to present our stance. They put everyone in jail,” he added.