May 9 Mayhem: Violence inciters will be tried under laws: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Wednesday said the perpetrators, abettors, and inciters of violence on May 9 will be tried under relevant civil and military laws.

Addressing a news conference, she assured no injustice would be done to anyone. She further stressed that there were clear directives from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that no injustice should be done to anyone, however, those culprits would not be spared against whom evidence was found. She further maintained that evidence had been collected against them.

The minister said those involved in ransacking or attacking the civilian institutes or installations would be tried under the relevant civil laws while those involved in attacking the military installations would be tried by military courts.

Criticizing Imran Khan, she said he was the “mastermind” of all that mayhem who destabilised the country with his poor policies during his tenure, disrupted the entire social fabric through polarization, and that day, he was “instigating violence and hatred”.

Aurangzeb said “the nation today stands at a decisive juncture where political instability is fomenting economic instability and we have to say no to politics of violence, hatred, and polarization.”

She said the media and civil society must differentiate politics and violence and “say no to 9 May” should be everyone’s slogan.

Recalling the incidents of 9 May, the minister said it was an open war against the country the way violent PTI workers attacked memorials of our heroes and the historic building of Radio Pakistan, the voice that announced the creation of our country.

She said PTI had challenged the writ of the state and it was the government’s duty to give justice to the students whose schools were burned, to the patients who were dragged out of hospitals and ambulances and the families of martyrs whose feelings were hurt.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023