By India Today World Desk: The Pakistan Army has begun its crackdown on the May 9 assaults by protesters and it appears only a matter of time that decisive motion is taken towards Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Violence broke out throughout Pakistan on May 9 after Imran Khan’s dramatic arrest.
The chatter in Pakistani circles is what’s going to develop into of Imran Khan — will he be tried in a navy court docket or exiled, like Nawaz Sharif, in a impartial nation?
That a robust motion was imminent was made evident within the press convention by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif on Monday.
The DG ISPR made it clear that the May 9 assaults, focusing on the navy and Pakistan’s spy company ISI, have been pre-planned and other people with connections to the navy have been concerned. He stated 102 individuals have been being tried in navy courts and listed some family members of former high-profile defence personnel who have been being probed.
Here are 5 factors of what he stated and the way it’s being interpreted.
1. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif stated three Pakistan military officers minced no phrases in terming the May 9 protests as “condemnable and a black chapter in the history of Pakistan” and was “undoubtedly a conspiracy against Pakistan”.
“The events of May 9 have proven that what enemies couldn’t do in 76 years, a bunch of miscreants and their facilitators did,” the DG ISPR added.
2. ISPR DG Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif said three Pakistan army officers, including a lieutenant general, were sacked from as a part of the military’s “self-accountability process”.
Strict disciplinary proceedings have also been completed against other officers, including three major generals and seven brigadiers. The officers were punished for not being able to respond appropriately to attacks on military installations on May 9.
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3. The DG ISPR hinted at collusion of people linked to the military fraternity of Pakistan in the attacks on defence instalations by Imran Khan’s supporters.
“As of now, a granddaughter of a retired four-star general, son-in-law of a retired four-star star general, wife of a retired three-star general, and wife and son-in-law of a retired two-star general are facing this process of accountability on the basis of irrefutable evidence,” Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif said.
4. Trials were on under the Army Act in 17 military courts. “Trial of 102 miscreants is underway and this process will continue,” he said.
Suspects being tried in military courts had complete legal rights, including the right of appeal in the high courts and Pakistan’s Supreme Court, he said.
5. In what experts in Pakistan are reading as a sign of an imminent action against PTI chief and former PM Imran Khan, Maj-Gen Sharif said, “It is most important to expose the planner and facilitators of these events (May 9 violent protests) and bring them to justice if the nation wants to move on.”
He said the objective was to send people to attack military installations and then draw an immediate reaction from the army. “No one expected that a political party would attack its own army like this. But when it did happen, the army rendered this conspiracy unsuccessful. Had it given the response they wanted, their conspiracy would have been successful.”
Top Pakistani journalist Zahid Gishkori tweeted: “…A giant arrest is on the playing cards.”
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