Cabinet committee formed to look into May 9 violence
Pakistan
Panel will also table proposals to stop its repeat in future
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News/Web Desk) – The federal government has formed a cabinet committee to probe into the affairs related to the May 9 violence perpetrated by the PTI supporters after their leader was arrested in the Toshakhana case which related to his sentencing.
It was Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar who had ordered formation a panel on the subject. And on Saturday, Cabinet Division issued a notification, mentioning that Law and Justice Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam would head the committee.
Other members of the cabinet committee are the caretaker ministers of interior, information and broadcasting, and human rights.
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The panel has been mandated with the origins, planning and execution of the May 9 violence while also presenting its recommendations on how to avoid and stop the repeat of such events.
On May and May, the PTI supporters had not only attacked military installations including the Corps Commander House in Lahore and ISI offices but also torched the historic building of Radio Pakistan Peshawar – one of the two centres from All India Radio was aired before the Partition while also setting ablaze police vehicles.
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Social media propaganda machinery played an important role in instigating the people to act violently. Characters like Adil Raja and others had started propaganda well before May 9 in this respect, indicating that the events were planned much earlier.
Many videos are available in which the mob can be seen attacking and torching the buildings and vehicles while chanting slogans against the state and its institutions, threatening serious consequences.
But the series of evidence surfacing online hasn’t stopped yet, as new videos have appeared in recent days where the PTI workers are targeting the ISI office in Faisalabad and indulging in violence at other locations.
The government had initially approved military trial of those nominated in these cases. However, the Supreme Court under the former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial declared that no civilians could be tried under the Army Act.
However, a six-member bench last month suspended the earlier verdict, paving the way to start the process yet again.
