ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar has said that the violent protests of May 2023 led by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were “unforgivable,” despite the government’s ongoing negotiations with the PTI, state-run media reported this week.
Tarar was referring to the violent countrywide protests of May 9, 2023, that saw people carrying PTI flags attack government and military installations. Khan’s party denies involvement in the protest, saying that the May 9 incident was a “false flag” operation designed to crush the party.
Pakistan’s military this month sentenced 85 civilians to prison, which included Khan’s nephew, for sentences ranging from two years to 10, for their involvement in the protests. The decision was criticized by the European Union, the US and the UK, who raised questions over the transparency of the trials.
Pakistan’s government this week opened talks with Khan’s PTI party to ease political tensions in the country. The PTI has demanded the release of political prisoners and the establishment of judicial commissions to investigate protests on May 9, 2023, and Nov. 26 this year.
“He [Tarar] said incidents of violence like May 9 cannot be overlooked and anyone who commits acts of violence has to face the law,” Tarar told journalists at a press conference in Gujranwala, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said.
The minister said that there was “irrefutable evidence” against people sentenced by the military for the May 9 protests, categorically stating that the right to fair trial was ensured.
“The government wants to build on a momentum of hard-earned economic progress during the last few months and political stability is inevitable to this end,” Radio Pakistan said.
Khan’s ouster in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in 2022 has plunged the country into a long-term political crisis, particularly since the PTI founder was jailed in August last year on corruption and other charges and remains behind bars.
His party and supporters regularly hold protests calling for his release, with many of the demonstrations turning violent, including one last month in which the government says four troops were killed and the PTI says 12 of its supporters died.
The next session of talks between the government and the PTI is scheduled to be held on Jan. 2 in which it is expected that the PTI will present their demands in writing.
