Incarcerated former Pakistan Prime Minister and Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan has said he “fully endorses” the resolve of the Army’s top brass for strict action against those responsible for May 9 violence, Dawn reported. The Army’s top brass vowed action against the culprits of May 9 violence during the 263rd Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC), chaired by Pakistan’s Chief of Army Chief Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir.
Talking to the media persons at Adiala Jail on Wednesday, Khan demanded that the culprits be identified through CCTV footage, citing the example of the United States where protesters were held for insurrection and attacking Capitol Hill with the help of security footage.
The former Prime Minister, however, regretted that “no one was apparently interested” in an independent and fair probe into the May 9 violence
“May 9 narrative could not work for Feb 8 [election],” he emphasised, adding that only three political parties were the beneficiaries of rigged elections.
The PTI founder said he would never accept the results of the recent elections, as it would be tantamount to “accepting the slavery”. He told the media that his party would hold a massive public gathering in Peshawar against alleged rigging on Sunday.
He claimed that the Feb 8 general election was “the most rigged one in history” which would adversely affect the economy with the result that the public at large would suffer an ‘irreparable loss’.
“It was the stolen mandate of East Pakistan that was behind the 1971 tragedy,” he said, adding that the “country could not survive without political stability”, as reported by Dawn.
Pakistan underwent general elections on February 8. But, the polls as well as the subsequent results drew strong criticism both domestically as well as internationally for the allegations of “lack of level playing field”. Many political parties, especially Imran Khan-founded PTI complained of internet shutdown and “rigging”.
Massive protests erupted on May 9 last year after Imran Khan’s arrest in a graft case. The situation turned severe with protestors attacking the military installations.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has said that people will take to the streets on Sunday to hold protests against alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections, adding that the electoral body has brought “cruelty and injustice” to the extreme, The News International reported.
Elahi, in an informal conversation with journalists during his appearance in an anti-corruption court of Lahore, announced that the people of Gujrat will hold protests on Sunday.