Daily Times

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry Tuesday said that the perpetrators and facilitators of the May 9 riots need to be punished as per the Constitution and law of the land to preserve the credibility and faith in the country’s justice system.

“The issue of May 9 riots is not limited to the Pakistan Army but [in fact] concerns the whole nation,” the military’s spokesperson said while addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi.

Noting that the public was a witness to the May 9 incident the spokesperson lamented how some people were “brainwashed” against the armed forces and said: “We saw how some political leaders gave selected targets [to the mob]”.

“We saw that only military installations were attacked within a span of few hours [and] you saw the public outrage when evidence for this came to limelight.

“The lies and deceit cannot continue […] the people accused of being involved in May 9 riots need to be punished,” said the chief military spokesperson.

Commenting on the prospects of dialogue with any faction, Maj Gen Chaudhry 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 noted 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]”.

“Talks are for political parties, not institutions,” the army’s spokesperson said.

Reacting to the demands for the constitution of a judicial commission to probe the May 9 riots, Maj Gen Chaudhry said that the army had no objection to the judicial inquiry. However, he stressed that if a judicial commission is to be formed then this whole incident must be probed in depth.

“The [judicial] commission should also look into what were the objectives of 2014 sit-in […] how the parliament and the PTV [building] was attacked.

“And how Islamabad was stormed by using Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s resources in 2022,” the DG ISPR said.

“The forum should also look into how lobbying firms were hired abroad, how letters were written to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and from where the funding was coming from and where it was being channelled to,” the military’s spokesperson added.

On the issue of terrorism, the military’s spokesperson stressed that there is “irrefutable evidence” of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) using Afghanistan’s soil against the country.

“There is irrefutable evidence of Afghan soil being used by the TTP […] recent terrorist incidents can be traced to Afghanistan, ” he added.

Reaffirming the commitment on counter-terrorism efforts, Maj Gen Chaudhry said that Pakistan will leave no stone unturned to eliminate the terrorist network. He stressed that the security forces would go to any extent against terrorists. However, the spokesperson noted that the first priority of the Pakistan Army was to maintain law and order in the country.

“The army chief has said that there’s no place for terrorists in Pakistan,” the chief military spokesperson said while reassuring that steps are being taken to bring the miscreants to justice.

On the issue of Afghan refugees living inside Pakistan, the military’s spokesperson said: “Millions of Afghans are still living in Pakistan, while the country is fighting against terrorism. Pakistan has helped Afghan refugees, which the world has recognised.” Highlighting that millions of Afghan citizens continue to reside in Pakistan, the DG ISPR revealed that more than 563,000 illegal foreigners have been repatriated. The DG ISPR said the law and order situation was deteriorating because of the Afghan citizens.

“Militants are spoiling law and order situation in Balochistan, but the army is [acting as] a wall against the miscreants,” he noted. Providing details about the army’s anti-terror efforts, he said that as many as 13,133 operations have been carried out in 2024 so far wherein 239 terrorists were naturalised, whereas two officers and 60 soldiers embraced martyrdom.