Photo courtesy PID
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday vowed that all suspects arrested in connection with the May 9 riots will be deal with under the law and he will personally ensure no rights violations take place, as he slammed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for spreading disinformation.
“In his interviews with international media outlets, Imran Niazi is openly and deliberately [misinforming] local and foreign audiences by glib talk laced with fake news and plain misrepresentation,” he wrote on Twitter. “His expedient description of the post-May 9 events as ‘human rights abuses’ and ‘stifling of the right to political protest’ is not only misleading but aimed at manipulating and swaying opinion-makers outside the country,” he said, adding that he wished to correct the context being portrayed by Khan.
“What his [Khan’s] party did on May 9 was a brazen attack on the state of Pakistan, with mala fide intent and sinister objectives. No country in the world would tolerate such an attempt at destroying its integrity,” he said. “I assure everyone that the culprits are being dealt with under the law and that I will ensure that no rights violations take place,” he said, stressing that all cases would be dealt with due process under the law.
“Pakistan fully respects and is committed to all its constitutional and international obligations on human rights,” he added.
Riots were triggered across Pakistan on May 9 by the arrest of Khan in a corruption case, with PTI supporters and workers attacking and ransacking civil and military installations, including the GHQ in Rawalpindi and the Lahore Corps Commanders’ house. After the riots subsided with the release of Khan on the orders of the Supreme Court, police launched a massive crackdown against the PTI, with the party alleging its workers have been harassed by law enforcers and there has been no distinction shown between those involved in violence and those who were merely exercising their right to peaceful protest. Police have denied this, maintaining that any innocents detained would not face any prosecution after investigations conclude.