ISPR talk

There was little left to the imagination on Tuesday during Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Major-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry press conference. Initially about terrorism in the country, the press talk very quickly turned to the May 9, 2023 riots whose anniversary looms tomorrow. The ISPR DG has said that the perpetrators and facilitators of the May 9 riots need to be sentenced as per law and constitution so that the justice system’s credibility is preserved. On the demand for the constitution of a judicial commission to probe the May 9 riots, the presser said that the army has no objection to such an investigation and that a judicial commission should not just probe the riots in depth but also look into the objectives of the PTI’s 2014 dharna, how parliament and PTV were attacked at the time, and how Islamabad was stormed by using Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s resources. The ISPR DG also said it needs to be explored how lobbying firms were hired abroad, how letters were written to the IMF and the funding for these ‘activities’. An independent judicial commission should probe all of this and it should also be made public so that people know who was behind the 2014 dharna and those involved in destabilizing a democratically elected government should also be taken to task. The same must be done for May 9.

On May 9 and the events of the day last year, there are also questions over why these trials cannot be conducted in open courts instead of opting for military trials. May 9 was indeed a very alarming incident and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. That said, we also need to ensure that all the evidence is made public so that the law can take its course. Observers also say that the PTI should also accept its workers were involved in the riots and attacks on military installations and let the law take its course instead of outright denial.

The DG of the ISPR also made it clear that there will be no talks with any political leader or group that was involved in attacks against its own army and which indulges in propaganda and that “the only way forward for the anarchists is to apologise sincerely [for their acts], abandon the politics of hate and indulge in constructive politics [instead]”. This is something many political observers have pointed out before: that the PTI founder-chairman Imran Khan’s insistence that May 9 was a ‘false flag’ operation is contrary to what the military establishment believes and thus without any acknowledgement of responsibility and apology for what transpired last year on that day, the differences between the establishment and PTI will not be resolved. From the tone and tenor of yesterday’s press conference, it is quite clear that there is no room – at least for now – for forgiveness for May 9. This is contrary to how in recent weeks, PTI leaders have been making statements that they will only talk to the establishment and not to the PML-N, PPP and MQM. As the ISPR DG rightly pointed out, a political dialogue is for political parties, and not institutions. This is an important point because politics and political negotiations should be left with political parties and no institution has any business meddling in politics. That the PTI has so far stuck to its narrative and created a perception that February 8 elections results somehow negated what happened on May 9 was also countered by the DG ISPR. Observers had pointed out after the elections that the people exercised their right to vote because they want a political solution and not a bloody revolution on the streets. The PTI needs to realize that politics of confrontation cannot be sustained forever and only a political dialogue will lead to a political solution and an end to this chaos.